Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma
by Satoryu
Summary: A strange phenomenon similar to an old foe has surfaced. X, Zero, Axl, and myself try to stop it.
1. Return of the Shadow

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Part 1: Return of the Shadow**

I was doing nothing at the time. I was just flying around, looking over the city, minding my own business. But in a blink of an eye, I saw some black dust like stuff ahead of me. And I could swear I saw Death from beyond it. I tried to avoid it, but it ran right into me. I completely lost control of myself. It was as if I was in the middle of a tornado. As I was being stampeded by this dark wind, Death cackled at me. That was the last thing I remembered before I hit the ground. Hard.

I couldn't feel my body at all. I couldn't see two inches in front of me. I couldn't breathe either. I think I was out like that for a solid hour and a half before they found me. "Holy crap." A deep, beach bum voice muttered, probably in regards of me, a half awake human. "Get over here quick!" he called.

I heard a whoosh followed by another set of feet hitting the soft ground, probably desert. Another voice spoke, this one more generic. "What's up?"

"I've got a body here. Look familiar?"

"Looking at the sword with it...oh my God! We've gotta get him back quick."

"Are you sure? Can we treat him?"

"We should be able to. Now let's quit wasting time. He needs help ASAP. Let's take him back..." It was then that my hearing completely went out. I needed a few more winks.

I woke up with the biggest headache in the world. I sat up and shook my head. As my vision began to come back, I saw pale green tiles all over. "Unfamiliar ceiling." I was on a hospital bed. A doctor was standing at the foot of it. At least, he looked like a doctor.

"It's good to see you are awake, Mr. Satoryu," it said in a very mellow voice. My vision cleared to show me that the doctor was actually a robot. It was a Reploid, to be more exact. He was the lead physician and surgeon Reploid, Lifesaver.

"I think so," I said holding my head, "but where am I?"

"You are in the Emergency Repair Sector of Maverick Hunter Headquarters. You were found in a wasteland by Commanders X and Zero. They brought you to me to see if I could help your condition. It seems you only had a big fall and a large gash on you right leg." I then realized that my right leg stung like a bitch. My pant leg was rolled up and my shin was bandaged up. It was still bleeding a little bit. "I'd advise you not to walk for a while."

Just then, two more robots entered the room. One was blue with a helmet of the same color; the other was red with a red helmet and long blonde hair jutting out from the back of it. They were Mega Man X and Zero, the best Maverick Hunters ever known to mankind. "It's been a while, Chris," X said to me.

"It has," I retorted.

"How are you feeling?" Zero asked.

"Fine, just a deep cut and a migraine," I moaned.

"Well it's great to see you are feeling all right. What are you doing around here?"

"Really, I don't know. I only remember that I was swept out of the sky by some weird black dust. And when I woke up, I was in Maverick Hunter HQ."

"Did you say black dust?" Lifesaver asked. "We've seen a similar thing happening here. But we cannot confirm what it is exactly."

A siren went off. "Emergency. All hunters report to the control room. This is of Class S importance." The voice sounded deep and feminine. It was one of the Navigators, Layer.

"Maybe they've just found out," Zero said. "Come on," he waved. "We'll lead the way." He and X ran down the hall. I flew after them.

A set of doors opened to show a large control center with more Reploids working at computers. X jumped into his own control desk. Zero walked down a set of stairs to where three Reploids sat at a holographic sphere. They were the tall purple haired Layer, the young blonde Pallette, and the very attractive Alia. "What's the deal?" Zero asked them.

"Take a look at this, everyone," Alia said. She pushed a key on her holographic keyboard that activated two images to appear on a large screen. The images were of Reploid DNA. "The left picture is of a fallen hunter's DNA that had just perished from the weird wind."

"The one on the right," Pallette continued, "was from a hunter that died during the Nightmare outbreak."

"The two images are so similar," X pointed out. "Are you saying that...?"

"Yes," Layer nodded. "This is almost an exact likeness of the Nightmare. That would explain the odd changes in the environment."

"Not to mention some Reploids becoming Mavericks," Pallette added.

I was in shock. "How could this have happened?"

Almost as a cue, my last query was followed by Axl, the youngest hunter with red hair and twin pistols, running through the doors. "We've got big trouble! Gate's body is gone!"

All of us turned to him and shouted "What did you say?"


	2. Assignment Given

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 2: Assignment Given**

Axl lead all of us to a room far into HQ. It was where a body was kept. The body was that of Gate, the Reploid that created the original Nightmare. He had been shut down and taken to HQ in hopes of rebooting him. The room was ransacked with no sign of Gate. Alia clenched her teeth. "What bastards. Why would they do this?" She began to weep. Layer put her hand on her shoulder as she leaned on her.

X looked to Axl. "Did you see anything happen?"

"No," Axl answered, "I was just walking by and saw that the doors were open. I looked inside to see that mess and no Gate."

"Why would they take an offline body?"I thought. "It doesn't make sense." Aloud, "unless this and the other thing are somehow related," I said.

"That would be my guess." Signas, the head commander of the Maverick Hunters, approached us. He looked at X, Zero, and Axl. "You three have been assigned to stop the strange wind and recover Gate's body."

They stood at attention. "Yes sir!" they said in unison.

Signas nodded. "Now move out!" Everyone returned to the control room. The three hunters prepared for battle. The three Navigators sat down and crunched keys on the supercomputer.

"Now that we have knowledge on what the Nightmare can do," Alia began, "we can better anticipate what this is capable of. But be prepared for anything." The three Hunters nodded.

I floated over to them. "I'm going too. I can't seem to return to my world from here, and I think this has something to do with it."

"You are injured," Signas said from his podium. "Also, we have never seen what affects this wind can have on a human. For all we know they could mean death."

"Maybe," I said, "but I'm not a normal human."

X came to me. "We know what you can do. Just let us go first, Chris. After one mission, you can come with us."

I nodded. "Okay."

Pallette called to us. "We've got the 8 strongest readings of the black wind. And there is a Maverick in each area making it even more powerful."

"Typical," Zero sighed. "Who are they?"

Alia read their names off. "Crash Minotank, an excavator, is in the Gold Mines. Destruct Gryfflion, a sniper, is in the Hurricane Mountains. Dive Choujean, a stealth fighter, is in Wind-Swept Valley. Shadow Renaraid, a Buddhist priest, is in the Grand Dojo. Hell Sanhound, a bodyguard, is in the Withered Wood. Swamp Kappaphi, a nautical researcher, is in the Green Everglades. Helios Unicrown, brother of Spiral Pegacion, is in Bright Canyon. And Gleam Marymer, an operator, is in the Calm Reef."

I thought to myself "They're all mythical creatures. That's weird."

"Who do we do first?" Axl asked his superiors.

X and Zero looked at each other. Neither had an answer. "Who do you want to fight?" X asked.

Axl was stunned. "I...I can choose?"

"Yeah, sure," Zero said.

"Ummm..." Axl put his hand to his chin. "Let's do the Unicrown guy."

"You heard him," X called to the Navigators. "Send us to Bright Canyon."

"You got it," Pallette said. She typed in the coordinates and pushed one last key. The Hunters warped out of HQ in a flash.

I floated beside Alia and watched. I pondered, "It's strange. Why can't I just teleport back home? Did that wind, like, tamper with my abilities?"

Alia turned to me. "Maybe. It could also explain why you can't heal your injury on your own."

"Yeah, that too. But I can still fly, that's for shit sure."

Signas called to me, "It's possible that it is hunting you. With a title such as yours, it might be trying to eliminate you out of threat."

The title he was referring to was Satoryu, the Connector of Worlds. For those who don't know, I use my divine abilities to travel between different worlds and, by interacting with the denizens of them, linking them to other worlds. I also purify them to an extent of the malice that every world contains. I had already linked this world, hence why everyone knew who I was. I'll admit Signas did have a good point. I guess only time would tell if it was in fact true.


	3. O Brother

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 3: O Brother**

Bright Canyon was, as it sounds, a canyon flooded with sunlight. A mighty river also flowed through it. On its bank, the Hunters appeared along with a Bulbrite with a camera on its head. That is how all of us back at HQ would keep in contact.

Layer contacted the Hunters through the headsets built into their helmets. "Ever since the death of his brother, Helios Unicrown has attempted to destroy factions of the Maverick Hunters all over the world. The camp at the base of this canyon's dam is his next target."

Alia continued, "His success rate is very low, but expect anything."

"Roger," X nodded. He pointed downstream. "The dam is quite a distance away from here. Let's get moving."

As soon as he finished his sentence, his hand was locked onto the cliff face by a metal ring with sun-flare-like blades. Everyone's eyes widened. Zero and Axl let out a "What the...?" before they, too, were cuffed to the cliff.

A silhouette appeared on top of the opposite cliff. "At last," it said in a western accent akin to John Wayne, "the Hunters show me their damned faces." The light moved to reveal the identity of the silhouette. A horse Reploid in military fashion and a cape carrying a jousting lance in his hand stared angrily down at the trapped triad. A dark aura surrounded his body. What was most noticeable about him was the horn jutting from his forehead. "Mega Man X, Zero, you two have made a giant mistake coming here."

Zero gritted his teeth. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Unicrown blew heavily from his nose. "The rage that has built up within me will finally be released. I will annihilate you two from existence. I will finally avenge my brother's death. But first, the dam must go."

"Just what do you plan to do?" Axl asked.

"Simple," Unicrown said as he looked downstream. "I'm blowing it up. So just sit tight. Once that's done, I'll come back for you." Unicrown leaped across the canyon and ran to the dam.

"What do we do now?" Zero asked X. "We can't break out with brute strength."

"I have an idea," the blue bomber answered. He spoke into his headset. "Douglas. Are you there?"

Douglas, the head mechanic, responded back, "Yes X. Whatcha need?"

"I think it's time to test the Armor Download Program."

"You got it. Which armor do you want?"

After a pause, X said, "Shadow Armor."

"It'll be there in a jiff," Douglas said as he crunched keys. X started to glow. The wire frame outline of an armor appeared around his body. It materialized into a black ninja-esque armor suit, the Shadow Armor X used in the first Nightmare outbreak. His hand made strange formations. He clenched his fist and disappeared. A second later, he reappeared in front of his comrades and pulled their restraints off.

"Cool program," Axl said.

"Yeah," Zero smiled, "thanks a bunch."

X nodded. "Let's hurry and get to the dam." He talked into his headset again. "Pallette, send us some Ride Chasers ASAP."

"You got it," Pallette replied. She pressed several buttons in front of her to send three Cheval Ride Chasers to the Hunters' coordinates. They appeared in a snap. The Hunters got on one each and sped to the dam. Enemy Mavericks on Ride Chasers chased the Hunters down. X jumped behind a group and blasted them with the Chaser's turret. Axl stood on his seat and fired both his pistols at another bunch. Zero slashed the Mavericks on his sides. They continued like this for another fifty or so meters. The dam was still not in viewing distance.

"Damn, it's still a couple dozen miles away," I grunted. "You guys gotta get there quick."

Zero responded, "Don't worry. I got an idea." Zero dashed ahead of the pack and skid to a stop far ahead. He jumped off his Chaser and put the Z-Saber away. He contacted Douglas. "Send me the T-Breaker."

"Okay," Douglas nodded as he transmitted a large hammer into Zero's hand.

Zero raised the mighty hammer over his head. "Dairettsui!" He swung the hammer down to the ground. A shockwave commenced, and the ground ahead of him lifted into a ramp form.

X and Axl were only feet away from this ramp. "Hold on tight!" X called to Axl. The two rode off the ramp at over a hundred miles an hour. Needless to say, they got some big air time.

Zero slashed the Mavericks that were following them. "Good luck guys," he thought.

When X and Axl landed, they were seconds away from the dam. They broke hard and swerved to a stop. They leaped off and ran to the middle of the dam. A large bomb sat there. Its timer was dropping below five minutes. "Crap," Axl grunted.

"Get it as far away from here as you can!" X called.

"You bet," Axl said as he lifted the bomb with both arms and ran off the dam. He didn't get too far when a lance appeared across his neck.

"Put the bomb down, Hunter," Unicrown said, "or I'll blow it up right now." Axl snarled at the unicorn Maverick.

In a blink of an eye, Shadow X jumped to Unicrown and punched him in the face. "Get the bomb out of here now!" Axl ran like hell with the bomb.

Unicrown stood up and regained his posture. "You are a fool. A monster. A murderer."

X stared him down. "No. I'm a protector of peace. I'm a Maverick Hunter."

Unicrown stomped his foot on the ground. "I am not a Maverick!"

"Yes you are! You're actions clearly show it. The same went for Pegacion."

"My brother was not a Maverick!"

"Quit fooling yourself! Pegacion was a Maverick." X's tone lowered dramatically. "Even though it wasn't by his choice, he still had to be stopped."

Unicrown screamed, "Stop talking about my brother! His death will be avenged. I shall kill you right here and now!" Unicrown dashed to X and attempted to stab him in the heart.

X easily side stepped it and pulled out his orange beam saber. "You're rage is hindering you ability. Forget your brother. He's not coming back." Unicrown yelled again and tried to stab X again.

Zero had destroyed all the Mavericks, but had lost the Ride Chaser in the process. He ran towards the dam, but stopped. He smiled and ran back to the ramp he made. He got out the T-Breaker and used the Dairettsui on the ramp. It went down, but created a new one under his feet. He was flung to the dam like from a catapult.

I shook my head and chuckled. "He's so creative, it's funny."

X's saber and Unicrown's jousting lance clashed. They both drew back. Unicrown jumped into the air and drew his lance back. Light began to collect at the tip of it. When the light formed a huge ball, Unicrown swung his lance and shot the ball to X. X slashed his sword, nullifying the blast.

"Stop trying," Unicrown called. "The bomb will go off in less than two minutes, destroying everything within a ten mile radius. Your teammate can't run far enough to get the dam out of range. The end is inevitable."

X's eye glanced to the distance where he saw a red blur coming their way. He shook his head. "For you it is." The red blur appeared behind Unicrown and took him down to the ground. Zero pointed the Z-Saber at Unicrown's neck.

The Maverick grunted, "Cheap shot. That's not fair."

"You know, I actually remember something Pegacion said to me," Zero said. "Something you might have heard him say before. 'All's fair in love and war, and there certainly isn't any love here right now.'"

Unicrown snorted. "Don't talk about my brother! You murderer!"

"If anything," X said, "you're the murderer. Planning to kill thousands of Hunters in this fashion is without a doubt attempted murder. Were you always such a whiny hypocrite, or did the Mist make you this way?"

Unicrown roared and pushed Zero off of him. Beams of light shot from his horn rapidly at the two Hunters. None of them hit. Zero and X ran to the Maverick with swords ready. They stabbed him in the chest and three seconds later sliced up and out. The trademark explosion commenced. Light from the explosion entered the Hunters. More light flew to Axl. X and Zero did the same.

The timer read ten seconds. Nine. Eight. "Shit!" Axl ran at full speed. His foot caught on the ground and he tripped. "Shit!" he screamed even louder.

X and Zero appeared in the bomb's path. It hit them as the timer read five. "Oh no," they both said.

Everyone at HQ was on their feet in fear. Especially me, and it hurt. I warped to them as quickly as I could. They were in even more shock. I picked the bomb up as it read three. I threw it with all might when it said two. I flew up at blinding speed and punched it even further at one. At zero, it exploded into a giant fireball high above the earth. The force of the explosion pushed me out of the sky. I fell as fast as I flew up. I couldn't stop myself in time. I thought I was going to hit the ground, but Zero caught me in his arms. I smiled once I realized what happened. Zero grinned back.

"You know I could've survived that fall, Zero."

"Just in case..." After letting out a big sigh of relief, we teleported back to HQ. I could sense the relief from everyone at HQ, and we weren't even there yet. If the rest of the Mavericks pulled stuff like this, I'd be scared straight, cause this was a close one. This was not going to be a regular day, I was sure of it then. This was going to be anything but regular.


	4. Recovery

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 4: Recovery**

We arrived back at Maverick Hunter HQ very quickly. I saw everyone was smiling, glad that we were back and alive. Signas was applauding. "Very well done, Satoryu. Your actions were rash, but excellent. I believe we owe you for your righteous deed."

I waved it off. "No, no. X and Zero brought me here, Lifesaver patched me up. We're even now."

Douglas came in from a door below the computer. "Still, what you did was really risky. Your timing was so precise, and yet you were injured." He froze when he looked at me.

"What?" I asked. Everyone else was looking at me strangely as well. I realized I was standing up. I jerked my head back in surprise that I was on my feet and not feeling any pain. "Weird," I said. How was my leg completely healed? I didn't use my power to heal myself. The only explanation I could think of was, "The weird wind."

"You're saying that it healed you?" Axl asked as he got a closer look at my leg.

"Yeah, kinda. More so, I think it left. The gash must have been infected by it, hence why I couldn't heal it. But I guess it just disappeared."

"Could Unicrown's defeat have something to do with it?" Alia pondered.

"That makes the most sense," I replied. "But let's not worry about it for now." I turned to X, Zero, and Axl. "So, what weapons did you guys get?"

Their eyes widened. "I completely forgot," X said as he smacked the side of his helmet.

"Me too," Axl replied.

Douglas walked up to them. "You want me to take a look?"

Zero nodded. "Please."

Douglas lowered his goggles and stared at X's X-Buster. He plugged a gadget into a socket on it. It read the data from the light that fused into the Hunters after Helios Unicrown was killed. When it finished, a hologram popped up, showing X with his armor colored white and gold. In it, he fired a sun-shaped disc blade like the ones Unicrown used. "This is the Solar Saw," Douglas read. "It is a disk made of light that will cut through enemies and pass through walls."

"Interesting," X smirked.

Douglas plugged the gadget into Axl's pistol next. Another hologram showed Axl with a long barreled futuristic pistol. It fired a quick, large ray of light. "This weapon is called the Nova Flare. It's very powerful at any range, but its shot lasts only for a short time."

Axl smiled. "Awesome!"

"You're next, Zero," Douglas said as he plugged into the Z-Saber. A hologram of Zero pulled its white Z-Saber back, then thrust it forward. A shockwave came from it that traveled a short distance. "This technique is named 'Hitenjin.' It will pierce any armor with a flash of light. You can also delay the stab to make it more powerful."

"Hitenjin," Zero repeated. "Got it. Thanks Douglas."

"Don't thank me. It's my job!" With that, he returned to the R&D Lab through the door he entered through.

Signas called to the Navigators, "Is there any new information as to where Gate's body is located?"

"Negative," the three ladies responded.

Layer continued, "But one of the highlighted areas is showing more activity. The Wind-Swept Valley."

"You heard her, Hunters. Prepare to dispatch."

"Roger," the Hunters responded to Signas' order.

Layer was typing in the coordinates. "Transporting...now." The Hunters left in the usual beam of light fashion.

I walked forward. "I'm gonna go also."

"Are you sure?" she asked me. I saw one of her eyes through her long purple bangs. It looked worried, concerned.

"Yeah," I smiled, "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Layer said as I teleported out.

When Unicrown was destroyed, my wound was healed. I wondered if by defeating Dive Choujean and the rest of these Mavericks, I'd be able to go home. This "Mist," as I began calling it, surely was perplexing. It was worse than the Nightmare. What else could it do?


	5. Blown Away

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 5: Blown Away**

I arrived in Wind-Swept Valley along with the Hunters.

"Nice to see you made it," X said to me.

I nodded. "Yeah. This should be a walk in the park." Despite the name, it wasn't very windy where we were.

Alia contacted us. "Further down the valley, high levels of the black wind are present. Plus, the normal wind in that region is spreading it to your position. Be careful."

"You bet," Axl said. With that, we ran into the wind's path. The wind met us quickly. And it was strong, too. I was losing my footing all the time, so I just floated for the rest of the time. The Hunters were having trouble too, but not as much. It got dark and thick in a heartbeat.

"What the?" Zero shouted. "I can barely see!"

"It's too dark!" X called back. "We have to get above it!"

"I'm way ahead of you!" Axl called. An orange flash emanated from his position. Through the Mist, I saw the outline of a Flier Maverick in his place. Axl flew above the Mist. He let out a shocked "Whoa!"

"Whatsamatter?" Zero asked.

"There's a giant flying battleship coming our way!"

"Must be Choujean's," I said.

"It is," Layer said over intercom. "We've just learned that she is planning to use that battleship to attack the nearest city, which is a mere fifty kilometers from you current location. Stop it at all costs."

"Right," I said. "Grab on, Zero." He grabbed my hand and I flew above the Mist. A blue light rocketed out as well.

X downloaded the Falcon Armor from the Colony Crisis. "Let's take that ship down," he said. We flew over to engage it.

This battleship was riddled with turrets that didn't hesitate to fire at us. X and Axl fired away from afar, while Zero and I boarded it. We ran to the deck and slashed a few Mavericks aboard. I ran to the navigation console. It was locked in autopilot.

I grunted, then turned to Zero. "We gotta stop this ship by force!"

"Right," he called as he ran towards the engine room. I followed. Zero contacted X. "Get ready. This ship's goin' down!" We hacked away at the six large fuel tanks that kept the battleship in air. As you'd expect, they blew up. We cut open the hull and jumped out, me catching Zero in air. The whole ship began to blow up and descend into the Mist. We watched from the air as it disappeared.

Suddenly, a large whoosh rocketed across us. X's eyes widened. He was arched forward like he was punched in the kidney. He fell into the darkness. "X!" Axl called. Another whoosh and his head was turned as if he was slapped. He fell after X. Zero decided to go after them, so I let him go. One more whoosh was coming from behind me. I turned around and held my Kaiser blade, a broadsword with a bladed knuckle guard, in front of me.

The whoosh revealed itself to be a harpy Reploid. One of the wings on its arms clashed with my sword. "You got lucky, human," it said in a Brooklyn accent.

"I'm guessing you're Dive Choujean?" I presumed.

"Yeah," she answered, "what's it to ya?"

"I'm taking you out."

I heard X and Axl getting up and moaning.

"Ow." "That hurt."

Zero's voice was next. "Where are you guys? I can't see a damn thing!"

"Follow my voice, Zero!" X called.

"No good," Zero replied. "This stuff is masking it."

"This stinks!" Axl whined. His tone suddenly changed. "Wait a minute. I can blast this stuff away!" A trigger was pulled and the Mist around Axl disappeared. He used the Nova Flare to nullify the Mist. He did the same to free X and Zero.

"Nice work," Zero said with a thumbs up.

While that was going on, Choujean and I were amidst a vicious air battle. We countered each of each other's blows until Choujean stopped. "You're not even trying!" I actually was. The Mist was hindering my ability a little bit. She waved her wing toward me. "Quit playing around!" A cloud of Mist amassed itself around me. I felt my strength weakening. The Mist was entering every opening in my body. My organs felt like they were being torn apart. Choujean laughed, "That shows you for being cocky."

The Hunters watched from below. "Oh man!" Axl cried. "It's gonna kill him!" He started to fly up to him but X held him back. "What the hell, X? You want him to die?"

"He can handle it," X said. "Just watch."

My body, my mind, my soul were being tainted by the Mist. I had only one option to stop it. And that was my most powerful ability, self-purification. The light within my soul blanketed myself and destroyed the Mist. When the light disappeared, my figure had changed. My body was no longer of a man. I had changed from the dark to light, the Yin to the Yang. I was a woman. My strength was returning rapidly. The Mist around me was dissipating.

Choujean stared in confusion. "What the... What did you just do? Who the hell ARE you?"

I calmly looked at her and said, "I'm Satoryu, the Connector of Worlds."

I teleported behind Choujean and held my hand out. She was frozen. "What are you doing?" she screamed.

I smiled. "The question is: What are THEY going to do to YOU?" I let go of her. She fell down to the ground where X, Zero, and Axl surrounded her.

X held his Buster out. "Dive Choujean, you have been classified as a Maverick. For threatening the environment and attempting to hurt civilians, you shall be terminated."

Choujean stood up. "Shut up!" Thin whirlwinds rocketed from the sky towards the Hunters. They each rolled out of the way.

More continued to come. X and Axl ducked behind a boulder to avoid the winds. Zero cut them apart with no effort. Choujean held her hand/talon out and fired it to Zero like a grappling hook. It latched onto Zero's hand and pulled him to her. Choujean spun with arms extended. Her blade-like wings cut across Zero's chest. He drew back as she spun faster. A giant tornado appeared around her. It moved towards Zero, who was holding his chest in pain.

I motioned to stop Choujean, but something else stopped her before me. Axl had fired a bullet into her neck. She held it in agony. "You...bastard!" she choked.

"Finish her, X!" Axl called. X jumped out from behind the boulder with a fully-charged Buster shot ready. He fired the Falcon Armor's thin blue arrow shot with no delay. It also went through Choujean's neck, knocking her head off its shoulders. Her body fell limp and exploded.

Her head was still there, twitching. "It...doesn't matter," she said in a cracked voice. "It doesn't matter... what you do. You can't... stop... his plans. He... WILL kill you... This... time..."

Her head was smashed by my foot landing on top of it. "Whoops." Light from Choujean's remains entered into the Hunters, just as it did after Unicrown was destroyed.

"Great job, everyone," X said.

"Another one down," Axl grinned.

Zero chuckled softly.

I looked up to see that the Mist clouds were disappearing one by one. The sun shined once again on the valley. We all looked at the scenery that was created. I thought with a smile, "If only you could see this..." I said to the Hunters, "Let's get back now." They nodded and warped out. I followed.

I then better understood what the Mist could do. It was a very serious threat to all life. I gradually felt it get weaker, which was a very good sign. I also felt myself getting stronger bit by bit. But I was worried. Dive Choujean's last words were buzzing in my head. "He will kill you this time." Who was she referring to? My first suspicion was Sigma, but I couldn't feel his presence anywhere. Either he's hiding very well, or there's a different enemy out there to worry about. Dare I say it, someone worse than Sigma?


	6. Crazed Minds

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 6: Crazed Minds**

X, Zero, Axl, and I appeared back in HQ. I wiped the sweat from my brow. "That was intense."

As I said that, Douglas ran in with the device that showed the Hunters their new weapons. He also had some other stuff. "I got something for you guys. They're new program chips. They'll let you see your new weapons when you get them." He handed the three small chips to each Hunter. They each placed theirs onto their arms. Holograms appeared from them.

One showed Axl with a harpoon launcher type of weapon. The harpoon was shaped like a bird's talon. The hologram fired the talon, which was attached to the launcher by wire. The talon proceeded to return to the launcher. Axl called the name of his new weapon in glee. "Grapple Talon! Alright!"

Douglas stated what it did. "Not only does this damage enemies, but it can also attach to walls and the ceiling, allowing you to swing from it."

"Sweetness!"

X's hologram showed him in silver armor with Buster out. It fired two long whirlwinds that twisted around each other. "The Helix Twister," he said with intrigue. "The winds spread out further as they travel. Sounds good." He raised his fist in excitement.

Zero watched his hologram. It jumped into the air and swung its sword down and around. (For you X veterans, it's like the Kuuenzan.) After it did so, wisps of air circled around him. It continued to spin, and more wisps appeared. "Looks great," he said. With enthusiasm, "Senpuugeki!"

I smiled and thought in my head, "Weapon Get!" I chuckled.

Layer called to Zero. "Are you okay? Should I call Lifesaver to patch your wound?"

Zero, oblivious to Layer's affection for him, waved it off. "Nah, I'm okay. Let's just get to the next Maverick." Layer nodded and blushed.

"Okay then," Alia said to us, "where to next?"

"You pick, Chris," Axl said. I looked to X for an okay. X smirked.

I nodded back. "Uhh...let's try Shadow Renaraid."

Alia typed in the coordinates for Grand Dojo. "You got it. Transferring now." X and Axl teleported out immediately.

Layer was looking at Zero with concern. "Are you sure about that cut, Zero?"

"Yeah. Chris, you mind welding me up?" I walked over and created a small flare in my hand. I used it to weld Zero's scar together. "Thanks," he said.

I smiled and turned to Layer. "See? No worries." Layer smiled timidly. Zero teleported out. As did I.

This Grand Dojo was well hidden in the mountains of Tibet. When I appeared in front of it, my jaw dropped at how big it was. Axl was the same. "That place is huge!"

"It should be," Pallette contacted. "This is not only the largest Buddhist temple in the world, but also where hundreds of different martial arts styles are practiced."

"So what exactly is the problem?" X asked.

Pallette's voice sounded drearier. "Step inside." There were bodies littered everywhere. On the floor. Through the floor. Through the walls. And they were soaked in blood too. We drew back in shock and disgust. "Everyone in the temple," Pallette continued, "suddenly went berserk and began to attack each other."

"It's no question that the Mist possessed them to do so," I said, "but how? This is a holy place. It couldn't have just blown in."

Alia answered me. "We believe Shadow Renaraid, the head priestess, brought it inside. Watch out for her and any survivors. They're most likely still possessed."

"Got it," X said. We began to walk slowly through the large temple. More bodies cluttered the halls. The smell of blood filled the room. I was about to barf. Suddenly, X raised his Buster. We turned to where he was pointing. Three humans carrying bamboo staves entered the hall way. They looked at us and screamed maniacally. They attacked the Hunters, who weren't attacking back.

I thought, "Why are they just blocking?" After a second, "Oh yeah. 'Robots cannot harm humans.'" I waved my palm towards the enraged humans. "Calm down!" They were pushed into the wall and knocked out. I was about to say something when a group of Reploids approached us. They, too, were possessed. They were carrying various weapons, from a katana to a broom. We knocked each one out with a punch, kick, or pistol whip.

I looked at the mess of men, women, and Reploids around us. "These are all students here? Amazing." I then felt something weird, like a chill down my entire body. X and Zero felt it too. Axl was to preoccupied staring at one of the downed bodies.

A voice echoed from the ceiling. "You four have signed your fate coming here." The voice, a woman's voice full of spite, echoed all around the halls. "Interfering with my plans is a sin."

"That's Shadow Renaraid," Zero grunted. "It must be."

"What plans?" I called out.

She responded, "I feel no need to let you hear them. Just die in peace."

The room began to rumble. Walls fell from the ceiling, encasing us in like trapped rats. We tried blasting and slashing, but the walls didn't even have a mark on them. They then began to move. They were coming towards each other in an attempt to squash us. X and Axl continued to blast one of the walls while I tried to push the opposite wall back. Nothing helped. Zero tried to slash the ceiling and wall apart, but no luck. Mist was seeping in from the cracks. We began coughing as it filled the room. I felt lightheaded and weak. My strength was fading rapidly. Through blurry eyes, I saw the Hunters weren't faring any better.

The walls were really close together now. X and Axl were trying their hardest, and Zero was out of it. With the last bit of my strength, I braced myself in between both walls. I pushed one with my back, the other with my legs. They slowed down, but didn't stop. I pushed hard, but they pushed back. I cried in pain. Blurry images filled my sight. I couldn't decipher them. My knees were touching my forehead. I felt my bones crunching. I thought it was all over.

But it wasn't the end. Something was very fishy, and I figured it out in the nick of time. It wasn't real. I let myself relax and fall to the ground. The walls disappeared around me. The Mist faded away.

Layer contacted me through the Bulbrite camera. "What's going on over there?"

"It's an illusion," I replied. "Renaraid is creating an image in our heads." I looked at the others, who were still experiencing the mirage. At least, I know X and Axl were.

Zero looked right at me. "You figured it out too?"

I laughed hard. "You knew all along, Zero?"

"Pretty much. I've seen this kind of thing before." He shouted to his hypnotized teammates. "Hey guys! Wake up!" They instantly stopped pushing the wall and looked around dumbfounded.

"Huh?" They asked Zero and me, "What just happened?"

"An illusion," we said.

"Correct," Renaraid's voice echoed. "That illusion was intended to send you into a perpetual state of shock where I could take you out easily." A dark silhouette appeared in front of us. "As you wish." The silhouette revealed a nine tailed fox Reploid in divine robes carrying long sutras. "I shall kill you the hard way."


	7. A Puzzle with a Lot of Missing Pieces

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 7: A Puzzle with a Lot of Missing Pieces**

The four of us, three Hunters and myself, charged towards the priestess Shadow Renaraid. Not even a step after, she had disappeared. We screeched to a stop and looked around for her. "Where'd she go?" X called.

"Get out here, you wimp!" Zero shouted.

I looked to Axl, who was aiming his Axl Bullet at my face. "Chris," he said in fear, "help me!" He fired a shot, but I used my quick reflexes to catch the bullet in my free hand. Axl then dashed to me and attempted to fire again. I teleported behind him before he fired and grabbed his arms. His body was struggling to get free. But after a few seconds, his body became limp. I let him go. He looked at his hand. "I can move my own body again," he said. "Thanks Chris."

I raised an eyebrow. "But I didn't..."

My sentence was cut off by the sound of the X-Buster charging up. Axl and I turned to X, who had Buster out. His face was struggling, but a full charge shot was fired. Zero jumped in front of us and slashed the shot in two, negating it. "What's happening to me, Zero?" X called.

"Shadow puppetry," the blonde Hunter answered. "Renaraid is taking control of you through your shadow." I then noticed that X's shadow wasn't of his shape. It was Renaraid's form. But in an instant, it changed back to X's. Renaraid's shadow flew across the floor towards Zero. Zero stopped it by stabbing the Z-Saber into the ground. The shadow faded away.

Renaraid reappeared in front of Zero. "You've seen through my tactics, Reploid Killer."

Zero gritted his teeth. "How dare you call me such an outrageous name?"

Renaraid continued. "Psychological warfare won't work on you at all. You prefer hand-to-hand combat." She bent over to one of the downed students and took his halberd staff. "Come."

Zero spoke into his helmet. "Douglas, send me the D-Glaive pronto."

"Roger." A large zanbatou with a blue blade appeared in Zero's hand. He held it to his side and spun it repeatedly. He leaped towards Renaraid and slashed it across. The kitsune's halberd caught it and parried the blow. Zero jumped back and thrust the D-Glaive forward. Renaraid dodged and tried the same. Zero blocked it. The two froze in their places.

X, Axl, and I watched with weapons ready. We were going to charge in. "Three," X counted down. He charged his Buster. Axl aimed both pistols at Renaraid. I channeled ki into my hand and held it forward. "Two. One!" We dashed and fired directly at the priestess. The blasts were swiped away by her halberd. I grunted in disappointment. Renaraid then thrust her halberd towards us. It stretched in size and spun like a drill. We jumped out of the way. It hit the wall that was behind us, demolishing it in a heartbeat. Zero jumped to the ceiling and tried a downward slash. Renaraid blocked it. Their fight commenced.

I helped X up from the ground. We turned to Axl who was already up. He was smiling. "You got an idea?" I asked him.

"Yep." He exchanged his pistol for the Nova Flare. He aimed it at Renaraid and fired the large blast. Absolutely nothing happened. Everyone was in shock.

Renaraid laughed hard. "You thought that rays of pure light could stop me? I may use dark arts, but I am still a priestess. Light cannot harm me because I am pure!" With that, four of her sutras snaked their way to us. They wrapped around us and left us helpless. I couldn't even break free, and I'm a pure being myself. "Now die," she yelled, "you arrogant wastes of life!"

The sutras tightened. Zero and X strained in pain. I screamed with agony. Axl was silent. Was he already crushed into submission? Not even close. His body began to glow orange. Renaraid let go of him as Axl shouted, "Transform!" His outline began to change. It grew a few inches taller. His head shape changed drastically, as did most everything else. Most noticeable, long blades grew from his forearms. The light subsided, and in Axl's place stood Darkneid Kamakil, the praying mantis Maverick that was defeated during the Jakob incident.

"What in the world?" Renaraid asked with jaw agape.

In Kamakil's old western accent, Axl said to her, "Time to die, little tumbleweed."

Axl slashed the sutras with his blades to free us. He then leapt to Renaraid and slashed repeatedly across her body. She drew back holding her stomach. "You vermin! How are you doing this? I am pure!" Axl fired two Black Arrows from his hand and trapped Renaraid on the wall by the wrists. His left blade glowed with a purple light.

"I blacked out your holy light. Now before I send you to your gods, tell me who made you like this. Who made the Mist? Where is Gate?"

Renaraid coughed up blood. "I'd rather be killed than tell you. I will say, though, that he's been dying to see you again." She lifted her head and looked into Zero's eyes. "Especially you, Reploid Killer." Zero shook his fist in rage.

Axl raised his blade above his head. "Last chance, foxy."

"I'm not saying anything else. Just kill me, you damn fool!"

Axl sighed. "Fine then. Sayonara." One clean swipe chopped Renaraid's torso in two. She exploded immediately after. Light entered the Hunters as it had done before.

Axl changed back to his regular form and looked at his hologram. On its hand was a strange ornament that covered three of his fingers and the back of his hand. It held that hand forward. Black after-images of Axl flew out from the ornament at a moderate rate. "That's an interesting one," he said with confusion. "I guess it's kind of like the Soul Body X used. The 'Night Walker.' Weird."

Zero looked at his hologram. It jumped in the air and dashed. After the dash, it held its sword out and spun. Its sword turned black and two reflections of him followed, one above and one beneath him. "Hieiryuha. Great attack power and great distance. That's great." I chuckled at his repeated use of the word "great." I don't even think he noticed that he did that. All the funnier.

X's hologram showed him with black and purple armor and Buster out. It fired a large sutra that went straight, one that curved up, and one that curved down. "The Stun Tag. It stops enemies in their tracks and can be aimed slightly. Sounds good."

Mist came out of all the downed bodies and disappeared. One by one, the students got up in amazement and confusion. "Send a medical team here on the double," Zero said into his helmet. I looked at his face. He was very tense. "Let's go back," he said.

"Right," X answered. We teleported out.

As we left, I heard the students of the temple shout a bunch of stuff to us. They were along the lines of "Thank you!" and "You're the best!" It made me feel really happy to see them all alive.

But Renaraid was worrying me. She hinted to who created the Mist as someone who has met them before. And this person especially wanted to see Zero. That furthered my suspicion that it was Sigma, but his soul was completely absent. I couldn't feel a trace of it anywhere. Also, Zero was really shaken up by the "Reploid Killer" thing. I believed she was referring to back when Zero was a Maverick, though I don't recall hearing him with that name. Somehow, it still sounded familiar. But from where? Everything was becoming more and more confusing. I sure hit the nail on the head when I decided to call this "The Mist Enigma." Because that's what it was; an enigma. An enigma that was going to be very, VERY difficult to solve.


	8. Dig, Dig, Dig

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 8: Dig, Dig, Dig**

"As always, job well done," Signas said to us as we reentered the Maverick Hunter Headquarters. We began hearing a fizzing kind of sound.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It's you," Pallette almost screeched.

I looked at my body to see many purple flames surrounding me. Renaraid's dark magic was tainting my body. So I used my self-purification to become a man once again and destroy the flames. "Problem solved."

Alia typed into her keyboard. On the large screen above, the eight Maverick's profiles were displayed. Unicrown's, Choujean's, and Renaraid's were blacked out. "Where to next?" Alia asked us.

X put his hand to his chin. "Let's think about that. Keep the screen up Alia." He walked over to it. Zero and Axl followed. "Now that we have three different weapons each, I think it's time we start thinking about what the remaining Mavericks are vulnerable to. The probability that one of the weapons we have now will work on one of these Mavericks isn't high, but still a majority. We have weapons of light, darkness, and wind. We have to decide what the Maverick's attributes are and what would work best on them."

Zero looked up to the screen. As did Axl, who began hypothesizing. "Well, the Cerberus one must be a fire elemental. And either the duck or the mermaid is water elemental. The other two I'm not sure of."

"Exactly what I was thinking," X said, "so one of those water Mavericks should work best on Hell Sanhound. Everything else could go any way."

I was trying to figure it out in my head. I'll admit; when it came to the games, I never figured the weaknesses out on my own. But they usually stay consistent. Fires are vulnerable to water, ice, and wind. Ices are weak against fire. Waters are weak against lightning. But I couldn't figure out some of those Mavericks. With the possibility of two water types, it really screwed me up.

After a while, Zero spoke up. "Crash Minotank. He's stationed in a gold mine. Mines tend to either be dark or have artificial lighting. It's possible if he's exposed to real light, he could be blinded."

I floated over to them. "That's good thinking. I would never have thought of it like that."

Layer called to us, "So can I transfer you to the Gold Mines?"

"Yep," X nodded, "do it now."

"Roger." They warped out. I followed.

We touched down outside said gold mine. There was a bunch of demolition Reploids out side. "What's going on here?" Axl asked one of them.

"A big bull Maverick came running through here and butted us out," one said. "Then he barricaded the entrance with giant boulders."

Another one shouted, "They're so big and heavy, we can't break them!"

I walked over to the blocked hole. It felt like it was under a dark spell. "The Mist is strengthening the boulders," I said aloud. "I'll dispel it, then you can probably break through it."

"Okay," they said. Some were overzealous, and some were skeptical. But I held my hand out and sent out a wave of pure ki. The Mist weakened greatly.

"Do it now!" I called.

"Alright!" Four of the Reploids were driving a large drilling machine, running at full power. It ran into the boulders and crushed them with little effort.

"We'll take it from here," X said to them. The four of us then ran into the deep mines. As Zero guessed, the caves were rigged with dim artificial lighting. The mines were very large. As I looked at a map X had displayed from his Buster, this mine went very deep underground. We continued to run through. "Minotank must be at the bottom," X said.

"Damn," Axl sighed. "That's going to take forever."

I stopped and looked back. A mine cart was set up at a crossroad behind us. "Maybe not." I flew to the cart and pushed it over to the Hunters. "Hop in." They did so, and I continued pushing.

It was actually a very easy ride down. There were only a few sharp turns and boulders in the way. When we were at the halfway point, we noticed that gold littered the cave walls. I was amazed at so much gold. But my shock was cut short when we felt a rumbling. We looked around to see where it was coming from. Axl looked over my head and shouted. "A giant drill is chasing us!" I quickly turned my head to see it. It was as big as the caverns, which were already larger than normal. It was speeding up too, so I began flying while still pushing the mine cart. Axl fired his pistols trying to knock the drill off course. X downloaded the Gold Armor from the fight with Dr. Doppler. He charged both X-Busters and fired both to make the combined Charge Shot. The drill kept coming.

Zero let out an "Uh-oh!"

"What?" the three of us shouted.

"The bridge is out!" Before we knew it, we were in the air. I got under the cart and flew to the side. The drill fell to the bottom of a giant hole.

X looked at his map. "Minotank should be right below us. Follow that drill!"

"Yes sir," I said without hesitation. I slowly descended with the mine cart in my hands.

I reached the floor and set the cart down. The Hunters got out and began looking for the Maverick. I felt another rumbling. This time, it was beneath me. I jumped out of the way as something came up from the ground and stabbed its way through the mine cart. It was a minotaur Maverick with long horns and a large upper torso. Without a doubt, Crash Minotank. He grunted in a deep gruff tone. "Why did you come down here? Do you want to fight me?"

Zero pointed the Z-Saber at him. "Evacuate now or we'll be forced to terminate you."

Minotank blew out smoke from his nose. "I'm too strong for you weaklings. I'll crush you like tin cans!"

He stomped his hoof on the ground hard. Small rocks fell from above. They rained on top of the Hunters. I avoided them and watched the small pebbles become a mountain on top of them. But while I was looking at them in concern, Minotank had charged into me. His right horn dug itself right into my stomach. I screamed in extreme pain. Minotank ran me into a wall and released his horn of my body. I slid down to the floor and held my giant wound. I tried to heal it, but the Mist was contaminating it. It was like the gash in my leg from before. I couldn't do anything else except watch X, Zero, and Axl deal with this powerhouse.

The three had freed themselves easily and engaged Minotank in a chase. Axl put his pistol away. "I ain't playing around with you!" He reached to pull out the Nova Flare, but Minotank ran into him with his shoulder. The Nova Flare went spinning across the cave floor. "Rats!" Axl cried in disgust. Minotank then punched Axl in the face. The young Hunter went flying across the room into a wall. X turned to see if Axl was still able to fight.

Minotank immediately grabbed X's face and lifted him off the ground. "Don't turn your back on me!" Behind him, Zero slashed at his leg. The sudden swipe caused the Maverick to let go of X and lose his balance.

Zero picked X up. "You alright?"

"Yeah. How about Chris and Axl?"

"They'll be fine."

Minotank lost his footing completely and fell down on his back. The force of the crash caused the cave to tremble. More rocks fell from the ceiling. Eventually, the entire ceiling fell. All that was left was a bright patch of sky and sunlight. Minotank looked up and screeched. "Ah! Too bright! Too bright!" He was covering his eyes. Zero's theory was one hundred percent correct; Minotank was vulnerable to sunlight.

X's armor changed to white and gold. He held out his Buster and fired two Solar Saws. They each caught onto one of Minotank's arms and dragged him to the wall I was resting on. Coincidentally, I felt the Mist in my wound disappear. The hole in my stomach healed on its own, just like before.

Zero charged to Minotank with his sword facing him and flashing white. "Hitenjin!" He thrust the sword forward into the Maverick's chest. He screamed with pain, even after the force had left. X helped me up. Zero reared back and attempted to perform another Hitenjin. Before he could, a large blast of light went directly through Minotank's heart.

The three of us looked to see Axl on the ground with Nova Flare in hand. "Gotcha!" Minotank exploded and light entered the Hunters. I know, the same thing again.

To my surprise, the Hunters immediately teleported back to HQ. "No weapons this time?" I asked nobody. I warped to the base to find everyone in the repair hall. I didn't realize X and Zero's injuries were that critical. But as I got a better look at them, it made perfect sense. The Mist was starting to get to them as well.

"What can we do?" Alia asked Lifesaver.

"The effects aren't life-threatening yet. As long as we keep them here, the effects should subside. Just give it time."

Signas nodded. "Fine. Just keep watch on them until then."

"Roger."

"Everyone else," Signas turned to the Navigators, Douglas, and me, "take a break. But be on high alert."

Douglas and the Navigators nodded with a "Yes sir." They walked out of the hall, as did Signas.

I looked at the Hunters. They got like that just from being near the Mist. They were affecting them as bad as they were me, maybe worse. Now all we could do was wait. This gave me time to think. As I walked to the living quarters, my mind was working full force with questions. Is the Mist this powerful? Can it get any stronger? Who made it? Could it really be Sigma? We were halfway done, yet our problems were only beginning. I knew then that our problems were only to get worse. My thoughts turned to my family. It's probably been almost a day since I've been here. How worried are they? How sad? How angry? How confused? My head was throbbing because of all these questions. I tried to feel my wife's spirit within my heart. Nothing. The Mist was blocking me from my loved ones.

Maybe that was their plan all along. To separate me from my family. The Mist was even more of a threat than I realized. It figured out my one real weakness.


	9. Gate

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 9: Gate**

Night had descended over HQ rather quickly. It was time for everyone to stop and rest. I didn't know how that would be possible due to X, Axl, and Zero being incapacitated for at least the night. So while walking around the Maverick Hunter stronghold, I decided to do some snooping.

I began with walking past the control room where Signas was reading something on his desk. I didn't feel like looking, so I left it at that. I did hear him grunt softly. He was probably distressed from what the Mist had done. Just as I thought. Nearby was the R&D Lab. Douglas was already asleep in his chair. Pallette was at one of the tables tinkering with some gadget. She was doing something delicate with it, but Douglas' grumblings distracted her. She gritted her teeth and shook her fist. "Sleep a little more quietly, darn it!" she muttered.

"This could get ugly," I thought, so I walked away.

In the staff living quarters, two doors were open. I walked by the closest one. I peered inside and saw Layer. She was sitting at a desk with some sort of tape recorder in her hand. She sighed heavily. "No matter. I just pray that he is alright. Whether he notices it or not." I obviously knew who she was referring to. My mind drifted a little bit. I wondered what would happen if Iris got word of this. Would she understand? Or would there be one hell of a cat fight?

Moving on to the other door, Alia stepped out of it and bumped into me. "Oh sorry. I didn't see you."

"S'alright." She looked really gloom. "You worried about them?" Stupid question.

"Yeah." A pause. "But I can't stop thinking..." She turned red. "F...forget it."

"What? What is it?"

"N...nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. It's nothing. Good night." She went back into her room and shut the door. I was really curious as to what she was going to say. I didn't want to bother her about it, so I went to the room they reserved for me and pondered.

A nice small room. A desk, TV, and a bunk bed. I instantly plopped my butt on the lower bunk. My mind was crazy with questions. I needed to talk with someone. So I did something I rarely ever do; I separated into two bodies, man and woman. In short, I talked with myself.

"This is crazy."

"I know. They'll be alright, right?"

"If Lifesaver said so..."

"Yeah."

"But what's really bugging me is this. Who is the mastermind behind all this?"

"It's not Sigma. I'm sure of it."

"It's someone who has met them before."

"And he apparently has a strong interest in seeing Zero."

"That screams Sigma. Who else could it be?" A long pause.

"Gate. Do you think that he did all this himself?" I, or we rather, then heard a chuckle. A voice that seemed so familiar. The room then filled with Mist. It collected in one bunch and formed a diamond shape. A face then began to appear in the center of it. It was a Reploid wearing a purple helmet and a wry smile.

"Good guess, but no," Gate said.

I immediately stood up and hit my heads on the top bunk. "Ouch." I rubbed my heads.

"This is interesting," Gate said, "both male Satoryu and female Satoryu at the same time. Is this something to do with incest?"

I scowled. "Cut the crap. What's going on here? What's with this Mist?"

"Oooh, Mist. I should start calling it that," Gate rubbed his chin. "Anyway, as you guessed, it is a lot like the Nightmare from so long ago. Only better. It's twice as destructive and twice as mysterious. And it is growing every second. Soon it will blanket the planet." He grinned wryly.

I shouted, "Just how are you alive?"

"Blame it all on the creator. It's quite nice to know he would bring me back from the dead just so I could have a second chance at crushing X and Zero."

"So you aren't pulling the strings?"

"Oh no, not this time."

"Then who is?"

Gate laughed. "Like I'd actually tell you! Come on, you're a smart human. You can figure it out. And when you do, I want to see the look on your face. 'Duh! Why didn't I think of that before? It's so obvious!' Have a good night, Satoryu. Oh sorry. Satoryus." He started to fade away. "And if you're worried about Sigma, he's dead. Lumine killed him, like you probably already know."

The Mist then disappeared without a trace. We sat down on the bottom bunk without saying anything. I was so confused that both of my bodies just stared at the wall for a long time. My mind raced. Who is running this operation? Is Sigma really dead? Is Gate lying? Will I get home? Eventually I fell asleep from exhaustion.

A lone beam of sunlight woke me up. I turned my head to see the back of my own head in front of me. "That's right. I split bodies." I went to correct that problem, but nothing happened. My eyes widened. "Oh no." The Mist was preventing me from joining together. It must have been from Gate. I ran to the control room lickety-split. "Everyone, you're not going to believe this!"

Signas turned to me. "If it's Gate's visit to your room last night, we already know. It was recorded. We just finished watching it." I lowered my eyes to the floor and sighed.

I heard Alia sniffling. "Gate..."

The doors opened behind me. Through it came X and Zero. Both weren't wearing their helmets. "We saw it too," X said. "This proves that the Mist is extremely dangerous and should be dealt with without second thought. If what Gate said is true, it is ever growing."

Zero tied his long blonde hair in his trademark ponytail. "Which is why we have to stop it now. Before it becomes too strong to fight."

"But what about Axl?" I asked.

Signas called to me, "Axl can sit one out. Lifesaver says he'll be back in action soon."

Just then, Lifesaver ran in carrying Axl's firearms. "Axl told me to give these to you. He wants his tools used in the fight even though he can't be there himself." He held them out to the male me. I took the Nova Flare and the Grapple Talon. Lifesaver then gave my female self the Night Walker and a long barreled grenade launcher.

"What's this?" I asked him.

"It's called the Terra Bomber. It fires a destructive grenade encased in stone. The shot can be delayed to make the stone larger and the explosion stronger."

"Sounds good."

Beeping noises came from Pallette's desk. "Guys, we have an S.O.S. coming from Hurricane Mountains."

"That answers who we're fighting next," Zero said as he put his helmet on.

X did the same. "Let's go then."

"Right," Layer said as she typed in the coordinates. "Transferring now." The two Hunters beamed out. The female me grabbed the male me and did the same.

This was not good. We didn't have Axl with us, X and Zero weren't at one hundred percent yet, and I was left at half my power. My male self had great physical strength and sword skills, but no ki force whatsoever. My female self was the exact opposite; all ki, no strength. The Mist was getting smarter. They must've known this. "Damn Gate. Damn him to hell." Even though he said it wasn't his doing, I couldn't help thinking that Gate was the one who put this together. And all for revenge too. Leader or not, he was going to pay. Big.


	10. Grabbed by the Griffin

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 10: Grabbed by the Griffin**

We touched down on a large plateau. The sky was almost pitch black and a thunderstorm roared in the distance. Many mountains were there as well, each connected by bridges. Layer contacted us. "The distress signal came from Gryfflion's base, which is in the highest mountain to the north. Find who sent it and stop Destruct Gryfflion."

"Roger," X said as he dashed to the first bridge. Zero and I followed.

As we traveled towards the S.O.S., stray lightning bolts came down on us. None of them hit us, but there were a few close calls. I thought with a laugh, "At least it isn't as annoying as that minigame in FFX." We were soon engaged by Sniper Joes riding in large helicopters. Their gattling guns rained down on top of us. X and my female self shot some down, while the male me and Zero slashed the rest.

"Let's keep moving," Zero called. So we did.

Four bridges later, we stopped. I sensed something. X and Zero felt it too. But before we could ask what it was, a bullet came flying to the bridge we were on. It exploded with a fiery inferno on contact. Both my bodies began to fall down the gorge below, as did X and Zero on the other side. I was soon caught by someone's arms. Before I could look to see who it was, it had stuffed a cloth soaked in chloroform in my faces.

I woke up some time later. Through the male me's eyes, I saw I was in a dungeon-type room. I tried to move, but my arms and legs were shackled down to the wall. I tried to brake free, but it shocked me like a taser. I then noticed I wasn't alone. All around the room, young women were on the ground with chains on their arms. They were all very good looking. Also, they were wearing loose toga-like cloth. My female self was the same way. One of the women called to me, "Are you with the Maverick Hunters?"

I responded, "Yeah, we are. Where are we?" I asked.

Another woman spoke up. "We're being held here by a Maverick. He plans to sacrifice us to the heavens." That explained the togas.

"We were taken here last night," another cried. "Out of the blue. All of us."

Another screeched, "Someone help! I don't want to die!" She sobbed loudly.

A macho voice called out, "Who's shedding tears in there!" Through a door directly across from me came a Reploid with an eagle's face, talons, and wings. His lower torso was that of a lion.

"Let us go, Gryfflion!" I called.

He laughed. "You don't think I'd actually let you do that, do you? I need all of you tonight. Especially you two." He walked to my female self and lifted my chin with his talon. "All of you are being given to the gods to strengthen my power. With your souls given as tribute, the storm shall grow to immeasurable power and transfer it to me through the divine black smoke." Obviously the Mist. "And you two are very important. You have plenty of power to fuel most of the ritual."

"There isn't any way this mass murder will happen," my male self called. "The Maverick Hunters are coming for your ass right now."

"Oh are they?" Gryfflion asked with false intrigue. "I beg to differ." A TV screen dropped from the ceiling. "Those two are going to have to deal with a friend of mine before they get to me." On the screen, X and Zero were on another plateau looking to the sky. The ground rumbled. A large shape appeared over the side of the cliff. It was dark so I couldn't immediately tell what it was. A lightning bolt hit it and exposed its identity to me; a giant jellyfish Reploid that looked exactly like Gigavolt Man-O-War. Or Dokuragen, take your pick.

Without delay, X and Zero sprung into action. Zero slashed at its tentacles and chest. Not a scratch on him. Man-O-War then spew twenty or so thunder bolts at Zero. He was down for a minute. X downloaded the Icarus Armor and charged his Buster. He fired the ultra-powerful Stream Shot to Man-O-War's face. He waved a tentacle and nullified the blast. X was in shock. So was Zero, who just regained his footing. Man-O-War then flew over them and charged lightning into his tentacles. He was performing his Hyper Mode attack; beams of thunder that encompassed most of the entire plateau. The Hunters were able to avoid them, but not Man-O-War's next move. The jellyfish fell on top of them. If I were sitting down, I would have stood up in a heartbeat.

Gryfflion left the holding chamber. "I have to prepare for the ceremony. Don't you ladies go anywhere."

I pouted. "Like we can."

A bunch of the ladies were hyperventilating. "Oh no!" "They're going to be killed!" "What can they do?" That last one got me thinking. As far as I can tell, this big Dokuragen was just like the original. If that was the case, it should have the same elemental weakness. And thankfully, Zero and X figured that out too. They pushed the Maverick off of them.

X's armor changed to black and brown. He aimed his Buster and called, "Twin Ivory!" Two horns rocketed out to Man-O-War. They punctured his face and forced him to touch down on ground.

Zero smiled and lifted the Z-Saber over his shoulder. "Douryuken!" He brought his saber crashing into the ground. The earth in front of him rose and fell like a wave. It crashed into the downed Man-O-War and dented him up so bad that he exploded from the force of impact. The TV then shut off.

I soon felt my bodies pulling towards each other. The electric rings around my male self's wrists and ankles suddenly disappeared. The chains on my female self's wrists snapped off. I combined back into one body. I chose to be a woman to purify anything I might have caught. All the women were in shock. "That's incredible!" "How did that happen?" "Just who are you?"

I smiled. "You can call me Chris." I took out my Kaiser and slashed the door in two. I told them, "Wait here for a little while longer. We're going to take care of that Maverick. Then you can go home." I ran off.

I ran through a narrow rock hallway to find a staircase leading up and out. After climbing it, I saw Gryfflion at the edge of a cliff surrounded by torches and the like. He turned to find me. "How did you get free? Those rings can only be deactivated by..." His expression changed to rage. "They couldn't have! They destroyed the giant Dokuragen! Impossible!" He ran to me with fist out. "They are going to pay dearly. But since they aren't here yet, I'll take it out on you!" He swung his fist at me, but was stopped by a shot from the X-Buster.

X and Zero jumped to us. "Destruct Gryfflion, for attempting mass murder...," "You shall be terminated!"

"NO!" Gryfflion shouted. "I will not let you stop me! I must become more powerful! Gods! Attack these sinners!" Thunder rained down around us rapidly. X was hit, but he was okay. Zero and I avoided them as best we can.

I then pulled out Axl's Terra Bomber and charged it up. "Let's see what this baby can do!" I fired the large boulder into Gryfflion's stomach.

When the smoke of the explosion cleared, the Maverick wasn't harmed much. He then held his talon out and shot a beam of lightning at me. Zero jumped in front of it and slashed it away. He then jumped in the air and performed the Senpuugeki. The wisps of air had no effect. Gryfflion then fired more of the thunder beams. We dodged them all. I ran to him and punched him with my sword in hand. He drew back, but punched me in return. I was sent flying into a rock wall far behind us. I slowly got up.

"Are you okay?" X called.

"Yeah," I said as I healed my wounds. I then fired a shadow from the Night Walker ring. It traveled to Gryfflion and roundhouse kicked him in the face. He went down like a rock. "Bingo!" I called.

Gryfflion began to stand up. "You bitch!" He charged to me, but I fired another Night Walker. It got behind the Maverick and held his arms behind him.

X took this as the perfect opportunity. He changed color to purple and black and fired a Stun Tag. It attached to Gryfflion's face and shocked him with black light. After I let go of him, he screamed and released a large field of electricity. It pushed me towards the wall, but Zero caught me in his free arm.

"We really have to stop meeting like this," he laughed.

I laughed as well. "Just shut up and kill him." Gryfflion released another electric field. Zero air dashed into it and performed the Hieiryuha, shouting its name as he did it. The three swords pierced through the field and into the griffin's face and torso.

When Zero touched the ground and took his swords out, Gryfflion fell to the ground. "No," he grunted. "I can't be defeated by these nonbelievers. Gods. Why have you forsaken me?" He proceeded to explode.

Light exited from the explosion and entered X and Zero. Another light began flying away. "That must be trying to find Axl," I said. "You'd better follow it and make sure it gets to him. I'll take care of the captives."

"Okay," Zero nodded. He and X then teleported away.

I ran down the steps back to the prison room. I freed all the girls with sword slashes or ki beams. I spoke to the camera Bulbrite, "Bring a drop ship here on the double!" I then waved the girls out the door. "Wait outside for the rescue plane. It'll take you home." As they ran out, they thanked me. Some bowed. Some hugged me.

The one that was crying before came to me and kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you so much! You are a saint!"

"No. I'm just here to help. That's all."

"I'll do anything to pay you back."

I modestly said, "No, no, no, no. I don't need any payment."

The girl looked at me with eyes that seemed to glow like the moon. "Anything." She stressed it a lot. She then leaned on me with her head lying on my breasts.

I turned beet red. "Uh..." I stuttered, "okay."

She smiled at me. "Oh! How rude of me. I never told you my name. It's..."

I stopped her short. "I already know, Kaitlyn Sommers."

She was astonished. "How? How did you know?" she asked.

"Don't worry about that. See you later." I winked and blew a kiss to her and teleported out.

What a pretty girl she was. And a pretty name too. I definitely wanted to see her again. But then I got thinking. She was really making a move on me. Was it because I'm really a guy? Or does she swing _that_ way? Either way, it didn't matter. I was going to find her. As long as my wife has no objections to it...


	11. Under the Sea of Deceit

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 11: Under the Sea of Deceit**

"Hey! How the hell did you get the girl?" When I got back to HQ, a bandaged Axl screamed that in my face. "Not only do you already have a wife and kid, you're a woman! Explain that to me."

I shook my head. "I'm just that much better at women than you." Steam came from where Axl's ears would be.

Signas stopped Axl from hitting me in the face, although I was more than capable of doing it myself. "Stop it Axl. Concentrate on your task."

"Yes sir," Axl moaned.

I called to X and Zero, "Who do we fight next? Marymer or Kappaphi?"

"Good question," Zero said as he looked to X.

X responded, "I'm just as in the dark as you are. Let's just take one at random."

"How do we determine that?" Axl asked.

I pulled out a quarter from my pocket. "Like this. If it's heads, we'll fight Kappaphi. If tails, Marymer." I tossed it over to X. He proceeded to flip it into the air. After a short hang time, it came down into Zero's waiting hand. He threw that hand onto the back of his other hand, then took it off.

The tails side was up. Zero looked to Pallette. "Send us to the Calm Reef, Pallette."

"Roger dodger," she said as she typed in the coordinates. The three Hunters teleported out, as did I.

We touched down on top of a cliff. Not to far below was a vast ocean, clear as a crystal. Layer contacted us. "Below this ocean is the Calm Reef. Reports say that the Mist is infecting it, killing all the marine life that lives in the area. Find Gleam Marymer and stop this infection." Contact broke.

I asked the Hunters, "What did you guys get from Gryfflion?" X politely changed to yellow and red armor and created an electric sphere around him. "Pulse Barrier."

Axl whipped out a futuristic sniper rifle and fired a stream of lightning into the sky. "Shock Rail."

Zero didn't demonstrate his move. "Rakudenha. It's a Giga Attack."

I nodded. "Cool. Now, are we getting wet?"

"Yes, we are," X said, "but do you need some scuba gear or a breathing apparatus?"

"Taken care of." I walked to the edge of the cliff and closed my eyes. My body blinked blue for a second. Using this power, I could breathe underwater.

"Let's go then!" Axl cheered as he jumped off the cliff into the water. Zero and X chuckled and did the same.

I started to jump to, but I stopped. "Don't want to get my clothes wet. They're all I got." I stripped down to a bikini, jumped off, and did two backward somersaults into the drink.

While I swam, the Hunters were running below me. We saw what the Mist had done to the reef. Black, dried up, crunchy, dead. I tsk-ed in pity. After a mile or so, the ground began to rumble. We looked around to see what it was. I swam further out to see an underwater valley. A large mound of dirt was in the middle of it. It had a really odd shape. Mist then began to gather above it.

Gate had appeared again. "Fancy meeting you here."

X snarled. "Why are you doing this, Gate?"

Gate chuckled. "Revenge, my dear Mega Man X." X held out his Buster directly towards Gate. Axl and Zero aimed their weapons as well. Gate shook his finger. "No, no. You don't fight me yet, eager beavers. First, play with my pet." Gate disappeared without a trace. The Mist entered the weird mound of dirt. The ground rumbled even more. The dirt disappeared revealing a robotic dragon, decayed and damaged. It roared loudly. The water around us parted and the dragon flew into the air. I heard Gate laugh in the distance.

Zero and I jumped to the dragon and slashed at its face. The dragon winced, but threw us off. Axl fired his Shock Rail into the air. The dragon dodged it effortlessly and blew a fireball at the young prototype. X ran in front of the blast and negated it with his Pulse Barrier. He then threw his arms forward, causing the barrier to do so as well. It crashed into the dragon's stomach and shocked it with incredible force.

"Lucky," I said softly. It floated closer to the ground and retaliated with a large beam of energy from its mouth. I flew in front of it and slashed it in two. That let Axl fire the Rail again. This time, it hit, causing the dragon to crash into the ground. It fired beams from its eyes, hitting Axl in the chest. Zero raised his hand into the air and swung it to the ground. Hundreds of lightning bolts came rocketing down on to the dragon's back. That was his Rakudenha. It screeched until it ceased to function.

The ocean fell back into place soon after. I helped Axl up. "Thanks," he said sheepishly. "And sorry about that crack earlier." I smiled.

A voice called in the distance. It was sweet and melodic. "What is going on around here?" It was a humanoid Reploid with a fish's tail in place of legs and long red hair. "Oh." She was surprised to see us. "My name is Gleam Marymer. What brings you boys here?" She tilted her head and smiled.

Axl's jaw was on the floor. "Woooooooooah! She's the purtiest gurl I ever seen!" I turned away from him with a red face. I saw X was the same way, but not as ecstatic. Zero was just blank.

"Come with me and tell me what was going on." She waved them over and swam away. They followed her like loyal dogs. I tried to stop them, but something hit me in the lower back.

I couldn't feel anything from the neck down. I looked to my left to see Gate. "What did you do to me?"

"I've paralyzed you temporarily. I don't want you interfering with your comrades' deaths."

My eyes grew in shock. "What?"

Gate looked to Marymer and the Hunters. "Don't you see? They're all taken by her beauty. They don't have a care in the world besides her. They're helpless. I told Marymer to do that in order to kill them. It's a very simple plan."

I snarled. "There's no way they'd fall for it!"

"Oh? Look for yourself." The mermaid Reploid had already begun to punch and fin-slap the Hunters. They didn't retaliate; they just smiled with love struck eyes.

The camera Bulbrite came to us. On the video projector, Alia's face appeared, concerned and slightly angry. "Gate. Is that you? What happened to you?"

"Besides being brought back to life and given complete control of the Mist?" Gate asked. "Nothing. How's about you, my dear Alia?" He fluttered his eyes to her.

"Stop playing around," she shouted. "Why are you doing this?"

Gate rolled his eyes. "Weren't you paying attention? To get revenge on X and Zero. Why else?"

"No. Why did you leave the base? How did you leave?"

Gate grunted. "If you must know, my master let the Mist sneak past your defenses and into the broom closet where my dead body was. It revived me and gave me even more power than before. Happy?"

"But why did you leave?" Alia asked.

Gate continued, "If someone was that powerful, I had to see it for myself. So I sought out the Mist's creator, who will remain nameless, and pledged my loyalty to him. With that, I gained control over the Mist and was given second in command. That's why I left." Alia shed a tear.

"Oh, boohoo." Gate called to Marymer. "Finish them now."

Marymer looked to Gate. "Yes, my love."

I cried, "What!"

Gate replied, "I guess I didn't make it clear. Marymer will do absolutely anything I tell her to. Kill a living soul, jump off a bridge, comfort me. ANYTHING." Alia chuckled weakly.

"What's so funny?" Gate asked her.

"I knew it," she muttered. "I knew it right from the beginning."

"What? That your doom is upon you?"

Alia looked Gate in the eye. "I knew that you're not really Gate!"

Gate and I both gasped "What?"

Alia continued, "The real Gate would not blindly pledge himself to anyone. Nor would he take an innocent Reploid to be his personal slave. You're just a product of the Mist using his body."

Gate laughed loudly. "Sure, Alia, whatever you say. But what you see is what you get."

Zero dashed to Marymer and slashed her in the face. She held her damaged eye. "How? How did you break free?"

"I wasn't under you spell in the first place. How did you ever think I'd be taken by your cheap trick?" he growled. "No matter how alluring you make yourself to be, it won't faze me. I'm already taken, sister." I read his mind. Iris. That's all he was thinking about. His memories of the one he loved protected him from being swayed away by Marymer. He ran to his teammates. "Hey guys, wake UP!"

They snapped back to their normal selves. "What just happened?" they asked.

Marymer responded, "You've just sealed your fate, you poor excuses for men."

She waved her arm and released twenty bursts of water to the Hunters. None of them hit. X changed to the Hermes Armor and activated its X Drive. He used his increased speed to distract the Maverick. Axl fired the Shock Rail into her back, but to no effect. She dived to him and stabbed him with her tail. X fired a Triple Shot to get her off of Axl. She swam to X and pulled out a sword covered in scales. She swung it over her head aiming for X's head, but the Z-Saber blocked it. Zero proceeded to perform a Douryuken in front of the Maverick. She swung her sword, nullifying the wave. X changed to silver armor and fired the Helix Twister. The two whirlwinds circled around Marymer and stopped her dead. Axl switched out and fired the Grapple Talon into her stomach. She screamed in pain as her lower torso was cut in half.

Zero then jumped into the air. "This is for you, Iris!" He spun around and performed the Senpuugeki. The wisps chopped Marymer up even more.

Her head cried, "I'm sorry, my love!" I think you know what happens next.

After the explosion, Gate had left as well. I gained control of my body again and swam to the Hunters. They checked their weapons. Axl's hologram had a machine gun that fired water bursts like Marymer's. "Ocean Sniper!"

Zero's jumped in the air and held its sword downward. It crashed into the ground and created two waves from the impact. "Suiryujin!"

X's changed to teal armor and swung a sword. The sword created a blast of water that shot forward. "Hydro Slash."

"Cool," I said. "Let's see how the reef is." They nodded. The reef had already returned to its natural flourish of color. Some fish were also brought back to life as well. We smiled and teleported back to HQ. After I went back to get my clothes from the cliff.

Alia was probably right. That wasn't really Gate, just something using his body. How cruel. But I asked myself, "Why would they take Gate's body?" It could have been a psychological tactic, or perhaps just a random action. Regardless, this fake Gate and the Mist must be stopped. As soon as possible.


	12. Three Dog Night

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 12: Three Dog Night**

We touched down in the control room as usual. Pallette called to us, "Should I send you guys to the Withered Wood right now?" The hunters nodded. Pallette entered the coordinates, and the Hunters teleported out. I stayed behind and ran to the living quarters.

"What's the matter?" Alia asked me.

"I gotta get all that salt out of my hair." I immediately stepped into the shower in my room, threw my clothes off, and turned the hot water on. I scrubbed my head to rid it of the sodium. In a flash, I was out and drying off. While doing so, I noticed my breath was dark purple. The Mist was still in my system a little bit. I changed to my male self to get rid of it. I threw my clothes back on and teleported to where the hunters were.

When I landed, I saw dead trees all around me. The sky was pitch black and the wind whistled amongst the branches. I got a chill down my spine. The hunters then walked up behind me.

"Boo!" Axl cried.

I wasn't fazed. "Nice try," I said with sarcasm.

"Oh," Axl pouted.

I turned to X. "What's the mission?"

The blue bomber responded, "Sanhound is guarding a package that contains something belonging to Gate. We are to defeat him and retrieve the package."

"Oh goody. We've turned into a recovery service." As I finished my sentence, a swarm of mechanical bats flew to me. I quickly retaliated by thrusting my palm in their direction. "Snake Bite! Eat you heart out, Ban Mido!" The hunters were confused. I smiled goofily at them. "Don't worry about it."

"Actually," Axl started, "you aren't still wearing that bikini are you?"

My eyes widened. "NO! My clothes change with my gender. Didn't you know that?"

Axl looked away. "I guess the atmosphere of this place is just freaking around with me." He then screeched and jumped in the air.

Zero had tapped him on the shoulder. "Gotcha!"

Axl growled. "Damn you, Zero!" X and I laughed.

After pranking around, we continued walking further into the woods. Bigger bats swooped down to us along the way. We easily took care of them. A mile or two later, we heard a shifting sound, like earth moving. We looked down to see that we were on top of a trap hole. We fell a short distance into a dark cavern.

A voice echoed to us, "So nice of you to drop in, Mr. X and Zero-san." We couldn't see who greeted us, but his voice was very familiar. Axl used a light in his helmet to show the person's identity. It was no other than everyone's (and by that I mean no one's) favorite mercenary, Dynamo. "And you have friends this time," he gleefully said. "That's so nice."

Zero pointed his Z-Saber at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Dynamo shook his head. "Isn't it obvious, Zero-san? I'm here on a job."

"What kind of job?" X asked.

"I'm a bodyguard for a bodyguard. Hell Sanhound hired me to make sure no one got to him while he guards his package." He then took out his twin blade saber. "Sorry guys, but business is business."

Dynamo lunged forward and attempted to slash at my chest. I caught his hand and threw him over my shoulder. Zero then slashed at him, bringing him to the ground. Dynamo got up and jumped back. He crashed his fist into the ground, which caused beams of energy to rain down on us. We dodged them with a lot of effort. Dynamo began to try it again, but Axl stopped him with his rapid fire. Dynamo gritted his teeth and spun his saber around. He threw it to Axl, who was pushed back by the spinning saber's force. X fired a Charge Shot to shoo the blade away. Zero called for the K-Knuckle and punched Dynamo in the face. Dynamo screamed and threw his fist back at Zero. It hit his face, and Zero drew back slightly. Dynamo then charged energy into his fist preparing to use another Giga Attack. X and Zero took the opportunity and surrounded him. Zero slashed at Dynamo repeatedly while X fired a Stream Shot-esque beam. When they finished, Dynamo held his sides and coughed. He then screamed at the top of his lungs and threw his fist to the ground. A split second before it made contact, Axl fired a bullet directly into his helmet. It was split in two. The bullet also entered Dynamo's forehead and brought him to his knees.

He sighed deeply. "You guys are way too good. Better than I remember. Guess I'd better take my leave."

"Guess again," three deep voices bellowed from afar. Giant footsteps revealed a large Cerberus Maverick. Clearly it was Hell Sanhound. "Dynamo, you have failed in the task I gave you. I expected better from the one who unleashed the Sigma Virus onto the Eurasia Colony. You deserve to die where you stand." Dynamo gulped. Sanhound looked to us. "Do with him as you please. Then we can face each other."

I looked into the camera Bulbrite. "Layer, transport Dynamo to HQ."

Layer gasped. "Are you sure?"

"I am. Let Lifesaver patch him up. I have plans for him." Layer uneasily agreed. Dynamo disappeared in a flash of light.

Sanhound got into battle position. "Are you ready?"

Axl took out his Ocean Sniper. "Damn right!" He fired the blast towards Sanhound's center head. The Maverick ducked and dashed to Axl. He punched with his right claw. Axl was sent flying into the cavern wall. Sanhound then roared. Heat began to collect in each of his mouths. He fired three large fireballs to Axl. X used the Hydro Slash to nullify the blasts. Sanhound swung his heads from left to right with a beam of fire emitting from it. X blocked with the sword as he ran to Sanhound. He thrust the sword forward, but Sanhound caught it. X calmly raised his Buster and fired a shot into the Maverick's center face. He roared in agony.

Suddenly, two Ocean Sniper bullets went through his other heads, leaving steam from the bullet holes. "Schmuck!" Axl cried. Sanhound held his damaged heads and stared at X coldly with the center one.

"Up here!" Zero called from above. "Suiryujin!" His Z-Saber crashed through Sanhound's center head and brought him to the ground.

His body emitted steam everywhere. "Nice job," he grunted. "I have never failed a job before today. You have my respect."

X walked up to him. "As I you. But unfortunately, you are a Maverick, and I must terminate you."

"I understand."

"But before I do, can you tell us the contents of your package?"

"I would if I could. My employer told me not to look inside."

"I see." X then turned to me. "You want to do the honors?"

I modestly nodded and walked up to Sanhound. I flipped my Kaiser upside down and raised my fist along with it. I reached back and threw an open palm enveloped with energy into Sanhound's face. Light emitted from every available opening and electricity surged from me to him. I quickly removed my hand. Light still poured out of Sanhound's face. A slight delay. Sanhound exploded in a burst of radiant golden beams. I closed my eyes. "Talon of the Just."

After light entered the hunters, they checked their new abilities. Axl had a triple barreled gun that fired three fireballs in a spinning triangular motion. "Delta Ember."

X in red and black armor punched forward. A fist of fire then rocketed ahead. "Tyrant Fist."

Zero dashed and swung the Z-Saber across. A trail of fire remained after he finished. "Ensenga."

I heard clapping from a distance away. Gate was floating nearby with the package in his arm. "Congratulations on defeating your seventh Maverick. Only one more to go now."

Axl aimed to Gate. "What's in the box?"

Gate sighed. "I'm not going to tell you. I ain't stupid. Oh, by the way, even if you had remembered to go for the package instead of Sanhound, it wouldn't have amounted to anything. There's a force field around this box. Only I can open it."

"Then why did you need Sanhound?" Zero called.

Gate chuckled. "He was simply a pawn. I needed the time to work some things out. See you in a few." He disappeared instantly.

The hunters sighed. "Let's go back," X said. We did so.

I touched down in the repair quarters. A damaged Dynamo was just ahead in a stretcher. "Why did you spare my life?" he asked weakly. "Is it out of pity?"

I shook my head with a smile. "Once you're repaired, do you have an open schedule?"

"I guess. Why?"

"I gots a proposition fer ya."

"What's the job?"

"Find out anything pertaining to Gate and the Mist. Then relay it to us here."

"What's the pay?"

I thought about it for a second. "Five hundred million Zenny?"

Dynamo eagerly reached out and shook my hand. "You got yourself a deal, my good...uh, what's your name again?"

"Chris." Lifesaver then walked in. I said to him, "Fix him up good."

"Of course," he replied. With that, I left Dynamo to be repaired.

Sure, it's a controversial decision to hire a past enemy. But keep in mind: he was never actually against us. His employers were. He held no grudges. To him, it was just business. So I just spoke his language. And it worked. We now can find out more about what Gate is planning. And possibly who's really behind all this. Dynamo isn't the one to betray his employer, so I've put my trust in him. And hopefully, the Maverick Hunters have done the same.


	13. In the Treacherous Swamp

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 13: In the Treacherous Swamp**

When I walked back into the control room, I noticed that X, Zero, and Axl had already left for the Green Everglades. So I just followed suit. I landed on a small embankment near a marshy river. The Hunters weren't too far away. "There you are," Zero said when he noticed me.

Just then, Layer told us our objectives. "It's been reported that Swamp Kappaphi is planning to use this river as a catalyst to transport the Mist into the rest of the Earth's water supply. Prevent him from doing so and terminate him."

"Will do," X said with a nod. He then stepped into the river and began walking down stream. Zero did the same.

Axl cringed. "Oh man, I just got a new paint job! This muck is going to ruin it!"

"Quit your whining," I said as I pushed him in. I floated over to him and helped him back up. "We're on a mission. Your appearance should be the last thing on your mind."

"What about you?" Axl asked me as I floated above the river.

"These are my good Converses. I ain't going to ruin them."

"Right," Axl awkwardly replied as we followed X and Zero.

Not too far away, a swarm of robotic locusts circled around us. We took them out with our respective weapons of choice. Immediately after, five robotic alligators emerged from the river and charged at us with jaws open. I flew to one and raised my fists. I threw two jabs with each hand into its face. I then followed them up with two hook punches, a slash from my Kaiser, and a gut punch and uppercut from my free hand. I then charged blue and red flames into my fist and Kaiser and threw it upwards, bringing the croc with it. It exploded a few feet after.

"That's my Nova 10-Strike."

Axl looked cross. "Show off." Another gator jumped behind me, attempting to chomp down with its razor sharp jaws. I shot him in the mouth with a fire ball from my free hand. It was immediately destroyed.

"Looks like they're vulnerable to fire," X pointed out as he changed to red and black armor. "Thanks for that." He punched forward and let the Tyrant Fist's flame ignite and destroy another croc. Axl fired the Delta Ember at another, and Zero used the Ensenga on the last one.

I wiped my brow. "What a workout." We then heard hissing.

"Snakes," Zero said with a grimace. "Why did it have to be snakes?" They were robotic snakes floating atop the river. They leaped to us and tried to bite us. No such luck. We easily threw them off. When we did so, the water ahead of us began to rise. A very large snake emerged from it and hissed loudly. X dashed to it and charged his Buster. Before he could fire, the snake hit him with its tail. X was sent flying into a rock formation a nice distance away. I teleported over to him. He wasn't moving. I tsked and teleported back to the snake to find it spitting acid right at me. I couldn't avoid it. It splashed over my face. It burned like crazy. I held my face and screamed. I couldn't see well either. My vision was terribly blurred.

Axl and Zero called out to me, "Chris! Are you alright?" I turned to them. They looked like a red and black blur.

"No! I've been blinded!" I tried to heal myself of it, but it didn't work. I changed to a female to see if that could rid me of it. Nope.

Axl called out, "The Bulbrite is damaged too! The lens is cracked!"

"Shit."

Someone was laughing. It sounded very dastardly and slimy. "What a shame, what a darn shame." It came from atop the giant snake. All I could make out was a green blur.

"Who are you?" I called.

He responded with a heavy lisp, "You do not need to know that, little missy. Just give me Mega Man X."

Zero, Axl, and I said, "No way."

"Then I'll have to use force." The blur that was the snake lunged over my head. I couldn't follow anything else that happened. I did hear a bunch of bullet shots and sword slashes.

Zero's voice spoke out, "Guys, send X back to HQ pronto!"

A short time after, the odd voice grunted, "Great. Now I can't fulfill my mission. Don't worry though. I'll get him another time." He laughed hard. The snake blur dove into the water and disappeared.

Water splashed onto my face. Magically, my vision recovered on its own. "Weird," I said as I stared at my hands. Zero and Axl were already running down stream. I caught up quickly. I noticed that the current was really picking up. After thinking about that, I said aloud, "Oh crap."

The two Hunters turned to me. "What is it?"

"Waterfall!" As I said it, they plunged over one. I dove after them.

They splashed down a few seconds later. I floated atop where they landed and tried to spot them out. I then noticed someone was sitting on a rock not too far away. It was a green duck-like Reploid. "Swamp Kappaphi?" I asked.

He responded, "Yes? Did you call me?" I was baffled.

Zero and Axl jumped out of the water and surrounded Kappaphi. "Prepare to be executed, Maverick."

Kappaphi looked frightened. "Maverick? I'm not a Maverick. Please! I didn't do anything!" I didn't feel any malice or impurities from him, and he was telling the truth. He didn't know.

"Step off," I told Zero and Axl.

"Are you crazy?" they snapped back.

"No. Let's try talking for once." I then walked up to Kappaphi. "Are you aware that you have been classified a Maverick?"

"No," he stuttered.

"Would you have any idea why you were classified one?"

"No. No idea."

"Let me change the subject. What're you doing here?"

"I'm a nautical researcher. I'm studying this swampland's healing abilities."

"Healing?"

"Yes. I believe that these waters can cure people of any abnormalities. Sickness, injury, you name it."

I thought about how the water deblinded me. "I see. Well, our reports say that you were planning to use these waters to transport the Mist into the rest of the planet's oceans."

Kappaphi was shocked. "You heard I was planning to do that?"

"You were," a voice called from above. Gate appeared above us. "I had infected you with the Mist, Swamp Kappaphi. I had told you to find a way to spread the Mist to other areas. You decided to use the Earth's water supply. Next thing I know, you're no longer a Maverick."

Kappaphi was still confused. "I was a Maverick? How? And who are you?"

Gate floated down towards the water. His purple aura was nullified when it touched the water. "What the?"

I said, "According to Kappaphi, this swamp can heal any injury or sickness. Apparently, it destroys evil presences as well."

"I see," Gate said with a pissed expression. "You must have gone in the water at some point, Kappaphi. It expelled the Mist from your systems and left you not knowing a damn thing that happened. Just beautiful." That last part with sarcasm.

"Incredible!" Kappaphi shined. "This is the greatest discovery ever! I have got to tell everyone about this." In a flash, Kappaphi's head fell off its shoulders. Cue explosion.

Gate smiled. "Without the Mist, you're useless to me, ducky."

The Hunters and I were in shock. "How could you?" I asked in disbelief.

"Hey, he was magically cured," Gate responded. "I don't need him anymore if he isn't going to follow me. And also..." The waterfall exploded behind him. All the water evaporated into Mist and entered his aura. "A discovery like this shouldn't be seen by mortal eyes. It conflicts a little too much."

Zero clutched his Z-Saber in both hands. "You really are a heartless bastard, you know that?"

Gate replied in his normal cocky attitude, "No. But I do know that all eight Mavericks are dead. You guys get to go to my lab now. What fun. But there's another catch." I scowled at him. Gate continued, "I'll send the coordinates to your base. They will be encrypted in a special code. It's very tricky. My dear Alia should be able to figure it out. Well, see you then." He disappeared. "And tell X to get better soon!"

Zero punched the ground. "Damn it! Just when we get so close he decides to throw another gimmick into this game. Plus, we're without X."

"Now calm down," Axl said reassuringly. "Let's just go back to base. Maybe X isn't as badly damaged as we think. And if anyone can decipher a code, Alia can."

Zero smiled at him. "I guess you're right. You're a pretty smart kid, Axl."

Axl rubbed the back of his helmet. "Well, I..."

Zero turned to me. "How you doing?"

"Just fine," I answered. "Let's go back." We did so.

Gate. What a maniacal genius. He's giving us a difficult code to crack, according to him, and playing mind games the whole time. In another time, I'd give him credit for his knowledge. But right now I just wanted to give him a face full of Bolt 2. But Axl is right. Alia should be able to crack the code. And I pray to God that Axl is right about X. Without him, we don't stand a chance in the final stage.


	14. Even More Questions to Boggle the Mind

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 14: Even More Questions to Boggle the Mind**

Zero, Axl, and I touched down outside the repair quarters. The doors were shut. We heard power tools and electrical surges every few seconds. "Lifesaver must be hard at work," I said.

Zero nodded. "Yeah, we shouldn't disturb him."

Douglas then came up to us. "We just got the code from Gate. Come see." Without hesitation, we ran to the control room.

Up on the big screen was a very odd cryptic language. It looked like ancient Mayan or something like that. Alia was already trying to decipher it. Signas called to us, "Let's let Alia work in peace. You three can take a break for now." The hunters saluted and I nodded.

We then left the way we came. We sat down outside the repair quarters. Zero and Axl took their helmets off and sighed heavily. I began to think about the green figure on top of the giant snake. Who could that have been? I asked Zero and Axl. "Do you guys have any idea who that green guy was?"

They shook their heads. "No idea," Zero said.

Axl seconded, "I never forget a face. And I've never seen that one before."

"It was a Reploid, right?" I asked.

Axl looked to Zero. "I don't know."

Zero shook his head. "Me neither. I don't think he was a Reploid, but he definitely was a robot."

I held my chin. "Well what kind of robot is still in production in this age besides Reploids?" It then hit me. "Unless he was an older model robot."

Just then Pallette and Layer came walking to us with a Bulbrite with them. "You guys might want to see this," Layer motioned. "We've restored the video from the Green Everglades."

My eyebrows rose. "Really?"

Pallette nodded, "Sure thing. Here, we'll show you." The Bulbrite then shot the video onto the wall. It showed us fighting the giant snake right after I was blinded. On top of the snake was that green robot.

I stood up. "Freeze the image." The Bulbrite did so. "Zoom in on that figure," I pointed to the green robot. It did so. At first, it was still blurry, but after a few seconds it began to clear up. After it had done so, the robot was shown in full detail. My jaw hit the ground. I heard a familiar tune ring in my head instead of a bell.

_De-duh de-duh de-duh de-duh Da! Da! De-duh de-duh de-duh de-duh Da! Da!_

Only two words came out of my mouth. "Snake Man."

Everyone was clueless. "Who's Snake Man?"

I answered, "Snake Man was a foe of X's older brother and predecessor, Mega Man, a hundred years ago. That was during the time when Dr. Light was constructing a robot called Gamma. A scientist and Mega Man's arch nemesis Dr. Wily sent Snake Man and seven other Robot Masters as they were called to fight with Mega Man while Wily would kidnap Gamma and use him for his own evil plans."

Pallette asked me, "Well, was Snake Man destroyed back then?"

"Yes he was. But Wily had a thing for rebuilding his favorite robots." Another click went off. "Do you guys remember before fighting Optic Sunfloward? That CM data you found? That thing you fought was also one of Dr. Wily's robots, Cut Man. And also, the dragon we fought at the Calm Reef may have been a past foe as well."

Axl looked puzzled. "This would imply that this Dr. Wily is behind this. But that can't be possible. If that was a hundred years ago, there's no way he could be alive now."

My mind was buzzing again. "That's true, but look at Dr. Light. He's planted capsules all over the place to help X out. Maybe Wily could have done something similar. Maybe that could explain the nightmares Zero used to have. But I shouldn't worry them with this. They've got enough on their plate." Aloud, "Yeah, there's no way."

Layer pointed out, "Well, maybe someone is copying Dr. Wily's work to frame him."

I let out a hmm. "Maybe."

The doors opened to reveal X, good as new. We were in shock. "What?" X asked with confusion. "My injury wasn't that serious."

Lifesaver walked up behind him. "X just needed a new back plate is all." We all sighed with relief.

Axl smiled and put his arm around X. "I knew you'd be alright!" He laughed, and X joined him.

The Bulbrite then projected an image of Alia. "Guys, I've got something! Come in here quick!" We all ran to see what Alia had found out. On the screen, each of the strange letters was assigned an English letter. It spelled out some gibberish. "This is what they all translate to," Alia told us. "It's now a matter of piecing the letters together into a group of words. I just can't seem to piece them together to make sense." The letters were two As, two Fs, two Gs, two Is, two Rs, two Ts, C, H, L, N, O, P, S, V, and four Es. I found a couple dozen pieces of paper and a pen and tried writing down every combination I could.

The first problem: Could we figure this out? The second: How was this supposed to give us Gate's coordinates? The third: How long did we have to figure all this out? I'd dwell on those more, but I had to figure this out. "God damnit Gate, I hate you. I hate you so very very much."


	15. Fight On

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 15: Fight On**

I never had a puzzle this hard before, and I do the crosswords in the newspapers. Everyone else was stumped as well. I sighed. The only reasonable thing I had found was "LAST EVER PIERCING FOTH FAGE." I'm pretty sure "fage" and "foth" weren't words. Regardless, I showed it to Alia. "You might be able to work from this," I said.

She nodded a "thank you" and studied it. Her eyes lit up. "I think I got it!" We all crowded around her as she typed the sentence out. She then rearranged the words and took letters out of some. She created the word EVERLASTING and the rest were just a mess. A light went off in my head. I had figured it out. But so did Alia. She rearranged the extra letters into three words: FIGHT FOR PEACE.

X's jaw dropped. "Fight for everlasting peace."

We all turned to him in shock. "How did you get it?" Zero asked.

"I dunno," X answered. "I just knew it for some reason." That creed was from the ending of Mega Man 1. Apparently, X had inherited that from Mega Man's programming. It was very interesting.

Alia sighed again. "Well, we figured it out, but how does it help us find Gate?"

Gate's image appeared on the screen. "Very well done, everyone. I was beginning to think you'd never get that one. But you did. And now I'll tell you where my new lab is." He stayed silent for about five seconds. The schmuck. "My lab is located in the junkyard that was once New York City. Your neighborhood, isn't it Miss Satoryu?"

I stared blankly. "Yeah. Thanks for telling us where you are. I can't wait to beat you to dust." Gate laughed. The image then went away.

The Hunters put their helmets on. "Alia," X called, "send us there on the double."

"Right away X," she responded without skipping a beat.

While she entered the coordinates, X said, "And thanks. For everything." Zero and Axl nodded. Alia smiled as she entered the last coordinate. The Hunters teleported off. I followed. It's like a broken record, isn't it?

We touched down on what looked like Wall Street. Mist was gathered a few blocks down, so we ran to it. I had just remembered something. "What did you guys get from Kappaphi?"

Axl looked to me. "Where were you? We already went over that. I got the Bog Burst, X got the Marsh Spear, and Zero got the...uhh..."

"Renyoshou," Zero finished for him.

"Oh, forget about it," I said. "I'll see them when I see them." There was a large hole in the street where the Mist was congregating. With a nod, we jumped in.

The interior looked a little similar to Gate's old lab. The color scheme was way different though. And I had a feeling that nothing else would be too similar. We began walking further in. The air was getting more purple and evil as we walked. I was coughing on it.

"This is strange," X said. "Usually enemies would be crawling all over the place in a place like this."

Zero said to him, "It's all mind games, I guess."

We came across a large wall with Gate's portrait covering most of the large wall. "That proves it," Axl said, "he loves himself too much."

The wall below the portrait then crumbled. Dynamo was thrown through it into me. He was surprised. "Oh! You guys are here." He changed to uneasiness. "Sorry, Chris, I couldn't find out anything. I've just been fighting these guys the whole time." We looked at the hole to see eight shadowy figures walk through it. They were the Nightmare Investigators; Ground Scaravich, Metal Shark Player, Infinity Mijinion, Blaze Heatnix, Blizzard Wolfang, Shieldner Sheldon, Rainy Turtloid, and Commander Yammark. The Mist was surrounding each of them. They all had the look of anger on their faces. "I could not get to any of them," Dynamo continued. "It's like they're zombies or something."

I changed to my male self. "They are zombies in a way. That's just the Mist copying their bodies and, I'm assuming, abilities."

Zero drew his Z-Saber. "Take the bench, Dynamo. We'll handle them from here."

The Investigators then changed into Mist and hovered towards us. Once they were close, they rocketed into Dynamo's chest. He was in pain, needless to say. He was hunched over and trembling. His muscles, if you can call them that, began to expand. His armor began cracking. We watched in fear as Dynamo suddenly became a gigantic mutant of a Reploid. He roared at us and threw his fist at us. We dodged it, leading it into the floor. X and Axl fired at his back, but it didn't seem to do anything. Dynamo freed his fist and threw it at us again. Zero and I jumped on top of it and then jumped to his face. We slashed at it, but didn't leave a scratch. Dynamo shook us off and raised his foot. He stomped down just as we had gotten out from underneath his shadow.

Axl called to the Navigators, "Does this thing have a weakness?"

"Negative," Alia responded, "It has all the resistances of the Investigators and Dynamo himself. None of your weapons can damage him."

"So what do we do?" Axl asked.

I told him, "Run." The four of us did so.

Dynamo gave chase, crashing through walls to do so. The Hunters were dashing like crazy while I was flying over them. It seemed that no matter how fast we ran, Dynamo easily caught up to us. We ran and ran and ran.

Pallette then called to us, "Be careful everyone! There's a dead end coming up!"

"Typical," I muttered.

Pallette continued, "And it's riddled with spikes!"

"You have got to be kidding!" I shouted as a piece of rubble clocked me in the head.

"If I'm lying, I'm dying."

"If you're not, we're dying."

We saw the dead end coming up. We made it there before Dynamo could catch up. There were spikes practically everywhere. There was a surge of energy there as well. "We're doomed," Axl sighed.

I flew into it and looked around. There were some spikes that were transparent. I touched one and went right through it. "Over here!" I waved. "There are fake ones here!" They used light from their helmets to see through the thick Mist and find the fake spikes. They followed them to a corner of the room. Dynamo had finally caught up and had begun stepping into the spike room. Axl fired his Grapple Talon to the wall beside Dynamo. He then tripped over the taught wire and onto the spikes. They electrocuted him beyond belief. He was smoking purple.

"Now's your chance!" Layer called. "His defenses are malfunctioning. One big shot will do it!" The Hunters leapt on to Dynamo's back and drew their weapons. Axl and X fired a shot into the small of his neck, and Zero stabbed him in the same spot with the Z-Saber.

"Sorry," X said under his breath.

Instead of an explosion, the Mist just fumed out of him. The spikes disappeared as well. The Mist cloud appeared over Dynamo, now in his original body. He sat up and turned to me. "Sorry. I couldn't help you at all. I failed the job you gave me."

I knelt before him and smiled. "It's okay, Dynamo. But how about this? I'll pay you 250K more if you help us fight."

Dynamo shook his head. "No. I don't need to be paid for this. This is my business now." He stood up as if he weren't hurt, which oddly he wasn't.

"Alright," I smiled. "Like they say, the more, the merrier."

Dynamo smiled also. "Amen."

The Mist cloud then reformed into the Investigators. They all stared at us with menacing glares. The entire room then became Mist and spiraled downwards. It took all of us with it. To where, I had no idea. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. I heard Gate laughing again. Laughing all the way down.


	16. It's a Dirty Job

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 16: It's a Dirty Job**

I awoke a short time later. So did everyone else.

"Where are we?" Axl asked as he rubbed his head. We were in a long trash compactor with junk strewn all over the floor.

"We're in Metal Shark Player's Recycle Lab," Zero said.

"How'd we get all the way here?" Dynamo asked.

"Simple," X answered. "It's the Mist creating another illusion." The ceiling began to drop and rise just over our heads. "A rather accurate illusion at that."

I began walking forward. "Well, just standing here isn't going to help. Let's get out of this place." We began walking. Indentations in the ground had made navigating a little difficult, despite the fact that they were in the exact same positions as when X and Zero originally fought MSP. The ceiling soon began sporting spikes, making navigation torture. Luckily, a "RAIDEN" model Ride Armor wasn't too far away. I jumped in it and drove it to a high embankment of junk. I jumped on top of it and out of the Ride Armor. It kept the ceiling from dropping more than two feet. Zero gave me a thumbs up. We continued going forward.

I smiled. "I always wanted to drive one of those things." Less junk was on the ground, revealing a conveyer belt. As soon as we stepped on it, it began working. It was moving in the opposite direction we wanted to go. The Hunters and Dynamo ran on it like a treadmill while I hovered nearby.

As we went on, I noticed a tear in the treads. "Look at that," I pointed out.

X rubbed his chin for a second. "A break in the tread. Maybe we can destroy it." He used the Tyrant Fist on the tread, but to no effect. X let out a hmm.

Zero snapped his fingers. "I got it." He ran back to the Ride Armor and climbed in. He came to the broken tread and slashed at it with the armor's energy sword. There was a secret room underneath, so we jumped in it. Zero got out of the Ride Armor first, of course. In it was one of Dr. Light's capsules. It opened and the doctor's image appeared.

"I'm so glad you were able to find this capsule, X."

"Thank Chris," X said. "He pointed it out. And Zero for opening it."

Dr. Light nodded. "Thank you, Satoryu. Thank you, Zero."

"Think nothing of it," I modestly said.

"On the contrary," Dr. Light continued, "this is of the utmost importance. This capsule and several others in this area contain the parts for your Ultimate Armor, X. Specifically, this one contains the arm part. It shall enable you to use the almighty Plasma Shot. Now step inside."

X did so. Beams of light encircled X as the outline of the armor appeared. The parts materialized onto X's arms. X stepped out and shook his fist in accomplishment. "Thank you, Doctor."

Light smiled. "Good luck to all of you, and keep a sharp eye out for my capsules." The capsule closed. We jumped out of the room and continued running down the conveyer belt. After more spike pits and indented ceilings, we were in the clear.

Or so we thought.

A purple ceiling came rocketing down on top of us. It was the same mini-boss from the first fight with MSP. We quickly crouched to avoid being squashed. It stopped just above our heads, but began shaking again. "This is different," I shouted over the rumbling.

Dynamo took out his dual edge saber and used it to keep the ceiling in place. "Go get rid of this thing!" he called to us.

X took that duty and crawled out from under the ceiling. On its front side was a face of sorts; an obvious target. X jumped into the air and charged his Buster. "Plasma Shot!" He fired a large blast of pulsating energy into the face. It went through it and came out the other side. The blast left behind an energy field that damaged the face even further. The ceiling began exploding and rose back up to whence it came.

Everyone got up and ran to the boss door not too far away. We went through it, duh. More junk was on the ground than ever. Some of it began spewing towards the sky. Out from it came a hammerhead shark Reploid with an anchor in his hand. Metal Shark Player. Axl asked, "Why do they call him Player?"

I had always joked that he was a pimp on the side, hence his "cane." But the honest answer was, "I dunno."

MSP did something I would have never expected. Sort of. He summoned junk into the air, which is normal. The junk revealed itself to be Shadow Renaraid, the kitsune we killed previously. Again, that's kind of normal. But what really surprised me, and the Hunters, was that Renaraid assimilated with Player creating some weird shark fox combination with spell tags and anchors all over the place. "Whoa," we let out.

"I thought we were going to fight just Player," X said.

"I thought we were going to fight all the Mist bosses," Zero said.

"Apparently," I said, "we got both at the same time."

The new Maverick swung one of his/her anchors at us, creating smaller anchors that bounced towards us. One hit Axl and exploded on contact. Axl wasn't damaged very much by it. However, he was covered in sutras. He had difficulty standing up. "What's going on? It feels like I way a thousand tons!"

Dynamo called out, "It must be all those spells on you." He dashed over to get them off. When he touched one, it burned with purple flames. Dynamo drew back. "Damn! That stung!"

"Am I stuck like this?" Axl asked nervously.

"Maybe," I answered, "until we get rid of this thing."

The Maverick then dove into the junk. We looked around for it by blasting at the ground. Zero used the Suiryujin to try and dig the Maverick up. It did, but it wasn't damaged by it. "That's weird," Zero wondered. "Player was weak to water attacks, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was," I called as I slashed at the Maverick with an ice slash. That too did not affect it. "Guess we're going to have to figure out what its new weakness is. The bastard." I then tried fire, light, and electricity in that order. The electric slash stunned it slightly, causing it to kick me into Dynamo.

"We have got to stop meeting like this," he joked to me.

I wasn't enthused. "You owe me again." I created a lightning bolt in my hand and threw it to the Maverick. The bolt pierced its chest and brought it to the far wall. X and Zero dashed to it with weapons ready. Before they reached it, it disappeared. A moment later, it reappeared behind them and headbutted them into the wall. It then continued to warp around as they regained their footing. Zero used the Rakudenha, knowing that one of the bolts would have to hit it. And one did, causing the Maverick to fall to the ground in an electrified fit. X charged the Pulse Barrier. His body surged with electricity. "Pulse Crash!" Lightning bolts shot in every direction, many of which hit the Maverick. After lying on the ground for a few seconds, the Maverick got up and grew to gargantuan size.

"I ain't falling for that one again!" Axl cried. Apparently when the Maverick was stunned, the sutras covering Axl were dispelled. Axl fired the Shock Rail into the behemoth's heart. It shrunk back down in size and shed its junk coating revealing a messed up Player and a messed up Renaraid. "Sons of bitches! Keeping me out of the action like that is a sin!" I rolled my eyes.

The two didn't explode. Instead they changed back into Mist and circled around the center of the room. The room began warping shape. We looked at it in question. "What the hell now?" Axl stubbornly queried. We glared at him. "What?" he asked, "I was just in that kinda mood." The room became Mist and spiraled downwards again. It took us along for the ride again. I didn't know where we would end up again. Are you tired of me saying "again?" I am.


	17. Armada Lambada

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 17: Armada Lambada**

We had landed on an array of battleships ablaze and in wreck. It looked like the fleet that was destroyed by Splash Warfly in the Red Alert duel. Not bothering to look around, we ran all the way down. Along the way, the battleships began falling apart. Nine times out of ten, rubble was falling on top of us. We avoided all that came across us. There was one towering inferno that came crashing towards us. I jumped on top of it with a Devil May Cry style Air Hike and ran up it with my Kaiser stabbing its side. Just before it hit the Hunters and Dynamo, it split and missed them entirely. They nodded to me.

"Thanks," X smiled. "Where would we be without you, Chris?"

"I dunno," I shrugged as I continued flying forward. They followed on foot.

Further ahead, the battleships had been reduced to small floating pieces of concrete. Most were in jumping distance of each other. Occasionally the Hunters would have to improvise with air dashes, double jumps, or hovers. Dynamo used his twin saber as a helicopter for some of the large gaps, which made me giggle.

There was one piece of rubble that was extremely tall and floating vertically like a buoy. "How do we get up there?" I asked. The Hunters began wall kicking up to the top. "Oh, right," I hit myself in the head. "I forgot about that." I flew up to catch up to them. Halfway up, Axl fell inside the rubble. I flew inside to check on him. He was hovering inside it. There was no bottom to this rubble, just water. The other Hunters made their way inside and clinged onto the wall.

X pointed out, "There's another brittle wall."

Axl hovered into it face first. It didn't break. Axl rubbed his bruised face. "Remind me not to do that again." Zero rolled his eyes, jumped over to the wall, and used the Senpuugeki. That broke the wall. We went though the new opening.

On the other side was a destroyed command deck, and another of Dr. Light's capsules was inside it. It activated when we got close. "Hello again," the doctor said.

"Hi, Dr. Light. Which part do you have for me this time?" X asked him.

"Actually," Dr. Light started, "this is for Axl."

Axl pointed to himself in confusion. "For me?"

"Yes. I don't know your systems well enough to give you new armor, but I can improve your current armor. Step inside and receive the Lumine program. It shall give you a different color scheme, increase your speed, and grant you the strength of a Seraph."

Axl smiled. "Sweet!" He stepped into the capsule. Light encircled him and changed his armor to white with blue outlines, his hair to purple, and his eyes to orange. His thin wings became three sets of angel wings as well. Axl looked at himself in amazement.

Dr. Light looked to him. "I'm sorry I couldn't do any more for you, Axl."

"Nah," Axl waved, "this is great. Thanks a bunch, Doc." Dr. Light smiled as the capsule shut off.

As that happened, the wall behind the capsule was destroyed by a missile. A few yards away was a lone floating piece of ship with a large turtle Reploid on it; Rainy Turtloid. He leaped up and crashed down on the rubble, creating a wave coming right towards us. When it hit us, it catapulted us right to Turtloid.

Well, we thought it would be Turtloid, but in fact Gleam Marymer was waiting for us. We all let out a cry of confusion. "You telling me they're going to fuse?" I cried. They didn't in the sense I was thinking. Turtloid drew his head and arms into his shell. Marymer then leaped into Turtloid's empty head opening, which caused large gattling guns to form from where Turtloid's arms were.

Those gattling guns then fired water bursts at us at blinding speeds. We narrowly avoided them. "Time to get on the offensive!" Dynamo shouted. He leaped and attacked the giant shell. No effect. Dynamo gritted his teeth. Marymer then fired many missiles from the shell, heading right for Dynamo. Zero and I destroyed them with simple slashes. Axl fired a bullet to the two jewels on the shell. Nothing happened.

"That sucks," I said. Those jewels were what kept Turtloid's shell indestructible. The Mist must have fortified them. Marymer then threw a water ball into the air. Thousands more then came raining down to us at an angle, knocking us towards the ocean. She smiled as we came closer to falling into the deep water.

Little did she know that she left Turtloid's front side completely vulnerable. Actually, we forgot about that too. X didn't. He had ran around the turtle and leaped into the air. X fired a Plasma Shot through the turtle, bringing him onto his back. Marymer fell out of Turtloid's head opening wounded.

Axl laughed hysterically. "That is so pathetic!" He jumped up and spread his wings. He fired plasma lasers from them and his pistols into Turtloid's chest. They pierced through easily. At the same time, I fired a large fireball into the downed Marymer. Surprisingly, it hit with explosive results.

The Mavericks cried in pain as he and the area began warping in shape again. It formed another downward spiral that took us to another new area. Based on what we'd seen before, I was guessing it would be another Maverick's area that was already defeated. Which one was beyond me until we landed in it.

I had expected to be in pain because of crashing on a hard floor. In actuality, we were rather comfortably placed in a bed of snow in a large metal shaft. "What place is this?" I asked as I looked around.

Axl was making a snow angel. "I don't know, but it's fun!"

Zero stepped on Axl face. Axl waved his arms frantically as he tried to get up. "I think this where we fought Ice-Snow Yetinger," Zero said. It did look a lot like it.

X checked his radar. "There's a door all the way below us. Another Investigator must be down there."

"Well how do we get down?" Dynamo asked.

I threw a fireball to the ground, melting a portion of the snow bed. "Like that." We all then began blasting the snow away.

According to X's radar, the twenty-by-twenty foot shaft was four miles deep. At about three square feet of snow melted per blast, firing blasts at about six second intervals..., oh hell, you do the math. We were going to be doing this for a WHILE.


	18. Up, Down, All Around

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 18: Up, Down, All Around**

We continued to melt the plethora of snow below us. It seemed like it would never end. I kept checking the radar periodically to see how much longer it was going to take. At the halfway mark, a second blip showed up on the radar not too far below us.

"What's this?" I asked. The Hunters shrugged. I decided to dig toward that blip. I knew I hit it when a block of ice appeared below me. I threw a fireball into it, but it did not melt. "That's weird."

Zero took a look. "It must be like the ice that blocked the capsule that used to be here. It can be thawed with light."

X changed to the Solar Saw and aimed at the ice block. "I'll take care of it." He fired two saws into the block, thawing it in a heartbeat. Behind it was a passageway to an alcove.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "We can get out of this cold place. I'm freezing my nips out here." We stepped inside.

While I sat in the corner and heated up, the Hunters found another of Dr. Light's capsules. "X," the doctor began, "this capsule shall give you the helmet for the Ultimate Armor. It will increase the speed at which you charge your Buster and give you infinite weapon energy."

X stepped in and the helmet materialized onto his head. "Thanks, Dr. Light," he said, "I'm going to try this one out right now." He walked back into the snow shaft. We followed.

I wasn't very keen on the idea. "Just when I get back to room temperature."

X changed to Tyrant Fist and charged. Opposed to a three second charge, X had fully charged in one and a half seconds. He walked to the wall and drew his fist back. "Tyrant Rave!" He punched the wall with fist ablaze. A wave of fire spread from where X punched, bringing the shaft's temperature way up. The snow melted in an instant, leaving a pool of water for us to float to the bottom to. Surely enough where the first blip was on X's radar, a boss door awaited us. We went in it.

On the other side was a room covered with ice. In the middle of it was Blizzard Wolfang, a blue wolf Reploid, with claws out and teeth gritting, and Dive Choujean, the same harpy from the day or two before, saddled on top of him.

Dynamo stood forward. "I'll start this one," he said as he raised his saber. Wolfang began spitting chunks of ice to Dynamo. He blocked them by twirling his saber like a propeller. X and I ran to Wolfang's sides. X fired a Plasma Shot while I jumped forward with Kaiser out. Choujean flew to the ceiling bringing Wolfang with her. She summoned multiple whirlwinds from the ceiling. Easily avoided, even with slippery ice on the floor.

Axl fired a Delta Ember and lasers to the wolf and harpy. Choujean blew them away with a gust of wind. They dropped to the ground and dashed to Zero with claws out. Zero avoided it by sliding to the left. Alia contacted us on the Bulbrite. "We think we've discovered the bosses' weaknesses. They should be weak to what they used to work against."

I thought about that. Renaraid was weak to Gryfflion's weapons, whereas it used to be the other way around. And Marymer was fried up by fire, where Hell Sanhound used to be weak to her weaponry. If Marymer was vulnerable to Choujean's weapons before, this would mean that Choujean would be hurt by water. Maybe it was only coincidence that it worked like that for the first two, but anything was worth a try.

I threw a water ball at the two Mavericks. They cringed in pain. "There's your cue guys!" I called. Zero jumped over them and used the Suiryujin. The blade went through Choujean's chest into Wolfang's. They screamed in pain to the ceiling.

X ran up to them, charged, and spun repeatedly with the Hydro Slash sword. "Typhoon Slash!" X's spins created a large whirlpool that sucked Choujean and Wolfang inside. They cried again as the whirlpool and X cut them up. Once X finished, the two fell to the floor in pain. The room began warping once more.

We were transported to the bottom of a giant spiral staircase with a green tube in the center. "Split Mushroom's lab," Zero said. "Why's Gate making all these nostalgic areas for us?"

"Can we think about that later?" Dynamo asked nervously. He was looking behind us with fear. The rest of us turned to find that the stairs began crumbling.

Axl yelled at the top of his lungs "RUN!"

As we ran, the stairs continued collapsing into a bottomless void. After the fifth floor I began flying to the top. It seemed endless. "Is there a friggin end to this thing?" Twenty or so floors later, there was an end. A dead end. The stairs stopped at the ceiling. The Hunters saw it too. We were all on the last few steps, watching the stairs disappear before us into the abyss. Amazingly, the stairs we were on did not fall.

We wiped our brows. "Now what?" X asked.

Dynamo looked below at the wall. "There's a platform sticking out over there," he pointed. Axl and I flew to it. Beyond it was a passageway that held a boss door.

"There's a door here," we called. Dynamo did his helicopter trick to get across. Zero and X were baffled for a second. Zero smiled, jumped forward, air dashed, and got to the platform with the Hieiryuha.

X called into the Bulbrite, "Douglas, send me the Blade Armor."

"Sorry X," Douglas answered, "there's too much interference. I can't send you any armor while you're down there.

"Damn," X grunted as he hit the wall. A beep sounded and the stairs descended a few feet. A door then opened, which X entered hesitantly.

"What's with that?" Zero asked.

X came out a couple seconds later with his Ultimate leg armor. "That answers it," Dynamo said.

I called to X, "I hope that thing extends your air dash, 'cause it's still a big jump!"

"I got it," X waved as he jumped off the stairs. He then suspended himself in midair and thrust himself forward with boosts from his boots. He softly landed next to us. "These gave me the Mach Dash," X said, "plus a boost in speed and jumping height, so no worries." The rest of us nodded, and we all went into the boss door.

The room was completely empty. Soon we heard a faint buzzing noise that slowly became louder. It was coming from the ceiling and coming towards us. The buzzing was the wings of Commander Yammark, a dragonfly Reploid with smaller robotic dragonflies circling him. He pointed to us, sending the dragonflies flying to us. We quickly batted them out of the way and charged to Yammark. Suddenly, Swamp Kappaphi jumped in front of Yammark and kicked us away. Like it never happened, we charged again.

Dynamo and I threw a punch to Kappaphi's face, but missed. He kicked us out of his way, which let Yammark summon more dragonflies. They fired green energy blasts at us. While that happened, Kappaphi attacked us with rapid physical attacks. We all took a few hits more than we would have liked. Kappaphi then spit up a ball of some sticky substance that exploded on contact with the ground. We were able to dodge it narrowly.

We had a problem. We didn't know what Kappaphi used to beak weak against or who he worked best on. So we tried it the old fashioned way: use weapons until we get it right. Axl fired lasers and the Nova Flare at the duck. Nothing. Zero used the Hieiryuha to try and pin the two to the wall. They dodged it effortlessly. Dynamo twirled his twin saber quick enough to create a gust of wind. It pushed Kappaphi into Yammark, who were then both stunned shortly.

X was charging the Helix Twister. When ready, a tornado surrounded him as he floated into the air. "Rush Twister!" He flew at undetectable speeds around the room, charging into the two Mavericks repeatedly. When he stopped, they had fallen into pieces. They screeched in pain as the room began warping again.

I was beginning to see a trend. The four areas we'd been to so far were from X4, 6, 7, and 8. If we were going to fight the eight remaining bosses, they would be in areas from X1, 2, 3, and 5. And whichever areas those would be, they would correspond with the Investigators attributes. Scaravich, Heatnix, Sheldon, and Mijinion were left, who would be paired up with Minotank, Sanhound, Gryfflion, and Unicrown respectively. I wasn't worried about Scaravich, and Heatnix and Sheldon wouldn't be a problem either. It was Mijinion, one of the most difficult bosses to beat, that worried me. How would we fare against a Mist clone of him and Unicrown at the same time? Could the others be any worse? Or could Gate completely me throw me off with another twist?


	19. Hell Fire and Grim Stone

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 19: Hell Fire and Grim Stone**

Usually the hunches I have are dead wrong. For instance, I could have sworn that Maverick Hunter X and MM: Powered Up would come out the same day as the X Collection. Not so. But this time I was right. Gate was making us visit past areas from each conflict the Maverick Hunters had experienced.

We landed at the top of a fiery cave leading downwards. It was where X and Zero fought Burn Dinorex. Without a word, we began jumping down through the cave. There weren't any enemies or fire spitting things along the way, which was relieving and suspicious at the same time. The cave began leading forward.

The heat was getting intense. I pulled on my collar to cool down.

"Why's it getting so hot all of a sudden?" Axl asked.

Zero wiped his brow. "Didn't you get a look at where we are? This is an active volcano."

Axl's jaw dropped. "Well then why are we down in it? If it erupts, we're gonna die!"

"Not necessarily," X said. He pointed to the protrusions of land along the floor and ceiling. "Those are cool spots. If we stay behind them, we'll be safe."

The ground began to shake. "I hope you're right!" Axl cried as he flew up to a cool spot on the ceiling. I did the same, while X, Zero, and Dynamo ducked in another one on the floor. Lava rushed past us at incredible speed and power. When it stopped, we began running.

"There's a way out at the end of this tunnel," Zero said. "When we get to it, we'll be completely safe."

Dynamo panted, "Don't you mean _if_ we get to it?"

Zero turned to him. "Don't get all pussy on us now! We'll make it." The ground shook again, so we all ducked in another cool spot. The lava rushed by again even quicker. When it stopped, we dashed on through.

Normally at the end was a door that could be destroyed. When we got there, a giant boulder of hardened magma was blocking it. "Shit," I grunted. The ground shook again, violently, as if it wanted to char us alive. "Double shit." X quickly looked around for cool spots. None. He looked up to see that part of the ceiling was crumbling. He nodded and jumped up toward it. He quickly let off a Mach Dash into it. The rocks crumbled and fell at our feet. There were enough for us to jump to the top where X was. And we did so just as the lava came barreling though.

The rocks up here were much cooler, almost blue opposed to red. Dynamo and Axl sighed heavily. Zero smiled at X, who smiled back. "Guys," Pallette called from the Bulbrite, "look at the ceiling!"

I looked up and saw a portion of it was greenish in hue. "Over here," I pointed to it. The Hunters came to see. "What can you use to break that?" I asked.

"I think I know what," Zero said as he walked to it. "Renyoushou!" He jumped up with sword in a rising cut fashion and a green glow. Think Ryuenjin without the fire.

Through there was another capsule. "Zero," Dr. Light said as the capsule activated, "much like Axl, I can't give you a new set of armor, but I can give you your Black armor. Plus, I shall give you the all powerful Sigma Blade. Use them well."

Zero stepped inside. His armor changed to black and his hair grayed like Dynamo's. In his hand was a large sword with green crystals all over it. This was Sigma's weapon when he was defeated last. Zero stepped out and swung it. A whoosh cut the air. "Thanks, Dr. Light."

The lava finally stopped flowing below us, so we jumped back down. "Zero," Dynamo began, "do you think that you're able to..."

"I'm way ahead of you, Dynamo." Zero raised the Sigma Blade over his head and slashed it across the giant magma boulder. It was sliced in two even pieces and fell to the sides, revealing our way out of the lava. "Piece of cake," Zero smiled as he ran through. We followed.

Beyond that hole was a room riddled with rocks and teeth. Two bosses were here, and I knew exactly who they were. "Blaze Heatnix! Hell Sanhound! Get out here now!" I called. A phoenix Reploid flapped its way down to us. His eyes were as fiery hot as the lava. He spread his wings and crowed loudly. Sanhound punched his way though the wall and roared. Heatnix latched onto his shoulders and flew upwards. Purple lava came flowing from the sides. We jumped to avoid it. As we did so, Heatnix and Sanhound spit out flaming boulders at us. Dynamo and I slashed them away.

Again, we had to figure out Sanhound's new weakness. Axl fired a fully charged Terra Bomber. The two were not fazed. The purple lava continued to flow in. X changed to yellow and green armor and fired a spear made of some sort of plant type material, his Marsh Spear, again to no effect. Zero used the Hieiryuha and rammed into the two Mavericks. They were stuck in the nearby wall. As the Lava began to recede, I teleported to the two and repeatedly punched and kicked them into submission. This was all to let X charge the Stun Tag.

When finished, he summoned thousands of small sutras that combined to form a scythe. "Death Tag!" he cried as the scythe slashed Sanhound and Heatnix nearly in half. Heatnix and Sanhound crowed/roared one last time and surrounded themselves with orange flames. They began flying towards us in Nova Strike fashion. X did his own Mach Dash in their direction. The two forces met each other in a blaze of energy. X came out the other side unscathed. Heatnix and Sanhound fell into burning pieces.

The two screamed as they seemed to burn away. The room began warping again. We reappeared in front of a large computer with a spherical screen. "The X Hunters base," X groaned.

"So this isn't a Maverick's stage?" Dynamo asked.

"No, it is," I answered. "Magne Hyakulegger was stationed here. That means we'll be fighting Shieldner Sheldon and Destruct Gryfflion." I noticed I was covered in purple flames. I changed to my female form. "Let's go. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

To be honest, I wasn't worried about Heatnix to begin with. Every weapon stunned him, which made fighting him very simple. I'm sure that the Mist could have fixed that problem, but we killed him and Sanhound too quick to find that out. I wasn't too concerned about Sheldon either. Come on, he's pink. He's a pink pushover. A mild pain at best. This shouldn't be too bad. I was still dreading Mijinion though. That was gonna be the real test.


	20. I Love Giant Robots

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 20: I. Love. Giant Robots.**

Like the areas before this one, no enemies were in our way. I feared the worst. As we ran, X asked me, "Chris, you said we would be fighting Shieldner Sheldon here. How did you determine that?"

I answered, "Through process of elimination, Sheldon is the only one who shares Hyakulegger's elemental property. Scaravich was ground and Mijinion was light. That leaves electricity."

"I see," X grunted.

We reached a dead end. The blocks that fall in this stage normally completely blocked our path forward. Unlike the normal gray and pink ones, these were blue. Dynamo fired two buster shots and slashed his twin saber at the bottom block. Not a scratch on it. Dynamo sighed, "Damn, were stuck."

Zero tried the Sigma Blade on the block. Still no effect. "Maybe a special weapon can destroy it." X and Axl took Zero's advice and fired all the Maverick weapons at the blocks. Nada.

"Well this stinks," Axl smugged. I was confused by this too. If nothing the Hunters had could bust the blocks, what could?

Layer called us. "How about a Ride Armor?" We all turned to the Bulbrite. "If you had a Ride Armor, you could probably break through."

"Good point," I said. "I'll check in the hidden area." I flew up to where the Heart Tank in this stage used to be. There wasn't a Heart Tank, but there was a smaller golden block. It looked just small enough to lift. So I wrapped my frail girly arms around it and lifted. It was no problem at all, considering I used a bit of ki. On the wall behind it was a dashboard. "This must summon them," I thought aloud. I pushed all four buttons on it without hesitation.

When I jumped back down to the Hunters, they were each in a different model Ride Armor. Dynamo had a classic Rabbit, Axl had the Raiden II, Zero had an Eagle, and X had the Cyclops model. "It's demolition time!" Axl cried as the Hunters punched and/or blasted the blocks apart.

Dynamo looked back to me. "We owe you again! I could kiss you!"

I waved my finger. "You'd have to pay ME to do that, stud."

When we stepped through the new opening, we saw another computer. This was the room right before where X fought and defeated Sigma the second time. Our happy faces turned to shock as we saw another Ride Armor, Chimera model I believe, in front of us. And the pilot was a dark figure. The silhouette was easily distinguishable. "Vile!" we all shouted. Vile, for those who don't know, was a former Maverick Hunter who got kicked out for being a little too, well, vile. He's fought with X and Zero on three separate occasions, and has swore to haunt X's life 'till the day he dies.

Luckily for us, this was yet another Mist replica. Fighting it wouldn't be a problem, especially because the Hunters had mechs of their own. I floated above as the fists and missiles started flying. After repeated explosions and crashes, all five mechs exploded. That was my cue. I threw my Kaiser to Vile. It sliced right into his Boba Fett style helmet. I flew down to him and removed my blade. I winked to X and cupped my hands behind me. I gathered ki into them and thrust it forward in a fireball.

"HADOUKEN!"

The Mist Vile exploded once the energy ball hit him. It left a hole in the floor. This hole would be where Sigma used to be. Or in this case, it was where Sheldon and Gryfflion would be. Axl took out the Nova Flare and X changed to Solar Saw.

We began to jump down when Dynamo stopped us. "Wait a minute. The other way is open too. Shouldn't we check it out also?"

Zero nodded. "Good point. Let's see what's there first." We ran to find another dead end. This time, it was just wall. No blocks, no doors, no nothing.

Dynamo shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I tried." He kicked at the floor, which set off an alarm. "Oh man!" he shouted. "What did I do now?"

A capsule rose from under his feet. Dynamo jumped off it to see Dr Light's hologram. "Dynamo, this capsule is for you. It's not new armor, but it is a new weapon. Step inside and I shall enhance your beam saber to inflict elemental damage. Fire, ice, darkness, you name it, you can use it." Dynamo stepped inside. Light enveloped him as he stood still. When it stopped he stepped out and took out his saber. He swung it with electricity, water, light, and metal auras consecutively. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you," Dr. Light frowned.

"No, no, no, this is great!" Dynamo smiled. "Thank you very much, Doctor!"

"You're welcome. And good luck."

We ran back to the hole and jumped down what seemed like a bottomless void. It wasn't, because we eventually hit land. Once we did, a pink shellfish appeared in front of us. As you may guess, it was Shieldner Sheldon. A lightning bolt then crashed on top of him. Gryfflion appeared in Sheldon's place. Sheldon then reappeared and clamed up, so to speak. Gryfflion formed a chain of electricity and attached on end of it to Sheldon. He then swung it violently like a mace. Its moves were erratic, but we managed to avoid them. Gryfflion then threw a lightning bolt at each of us. I caught them, and the Hunters rushed to the boss.

We had already figured out what Gryfflion would be vulnerable to, so we didn't waste any time. Axl fired the Nova Flare directly into Gryfflion's face. X charged and formed a huge ball of light over his head. "Solar Comet!" He tossed the ball to Gryfflion, who was pushed into the wall and badly torn up. Dynamo slashed across his scars with light energy and split the griffin in two. I then tossed the lightning bolts back. Each bolt hit a half of the Maverick. When they connected, the two halves fell to the ground and exploded. The room warped and took us somewhere else.

Specifically, it took us to a dying forest. It was the forest where X fought Neon Tigerd. "Holy Guns 'n' Roses!" The Hunters raised an eyebrow at my randomness. I explained myself. "This place's background music eerily sounded like 'My Michelle,' one of the band's songs."

The four Reploids said, "Ooooohhh!" in unison.

I shook my head. "Enough about washed up musicians. Let's go!"

Although I didn't show it, I was getting scared. Infinity Mijinion would be here. Then again, so would another armor piece. Odds are it would finish X's Ultimate Armor. Maybe the complete armor would give X some incredible ability that could vanquish any foe in the blink of an eye. But that's probably wishful thinking. I try to limit what I do in each universe. I don't want to be a glory hog. But if Mijinion was as tough as I imagined he'd be, I would have to butt in and go full force.


	21. Precursor to the End

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 21: Precursor to the End**

The part of the area we were in didn't look very familiar at all. It looked dingier, more ready to keel over. The design told me it was near where the capsule used to be. So I began running through the enemy-less illusion to that capsule's spot. I lost my sense of mind while doing so; I completely forgot about the Hunters. When I looked back to call them over, I only saw darkness. Had I lost my way somehow? No, I barely ran a few yards. "Hey!" I called. "X! Zero! Anyone hear me?" I dropped to my knees. I rubbed my head. "What's going on?" I wasn't tainted by the Mist. I felt all my strength. I just couldn't force myself to get up. I was so confused.

"Solar Comet!" Light suddenly destroyed all the darkness around me. I was able to see again. Behind me were the Hunters.

"What just happened?" I asked.

Axl shook his head. "Your guess is a good as ours. It had to be the Mist."

"Right," I said softly. My legs still wouldn't budge. "I have to try and free myself. Go look for the capsule," I told them. They nodded and ran to the wall before us. Axl fired the Terra Bomber at the wall, destroying it. They all ran into the new opening.

I channeled my energy to my legs. I still couldn't move them. I channeled energy to my arms and tried to lift myself that way. I still couldn't move. I concentrated my energy all throughout my body. I screamed at the top of my lungs, releasing an explosion of light. The ground below me was blown away into a crater. It was then that I discovered why I couldn't move. Green bubbly water stuck my legs to the ground. I fired a blast of energy to clean myself of it. It flew off me and bubbled in the air. It formed into another shape; a purple flea Reploid. "Infinity Mijinion," I scowled. From beyond his glass helmet, his eyes seemed to be laughing at me. A godlike warrior like myself caught by a little water flea. Degrading.

An explosion came from where the Hunters ran to. The four of them flew to the ground in front of me. "What the hell?" I asked.

Axl struggled, "Unicrown played a trick on us."

Again, my reaction was "Huh? What do you mean?"

X continued, "A capsule was in the same place it used to be. Dr. Light gave me the final upgrade, the Nova Strike. But afterwards, Unicrown appeared behind it and blasted us back out here."

"Damn, that's clever," I muttered.

Unicrown ran over to us and grabbed Mijinion. The flea turned back into the green water and covered Unicrown. The horse hunched over almost as if he was in pain. His back started to change shape. Two sets of arms sprouted from it, each with its own lance. I frowned in disgust. "Oh Lord."

Four more Mijinions appeared out of nowhere. All five of them hovered over us. I sighed heavily. "Oh fuck me." All five proceeded to attack me in tandem. I couldn't parry every blow. One of the lances punctured my leg deep. I shrieked in pain.

Dynamo swung a rock-covered sword at Unicrown, releasing his grip on the lance in my leg. Dynamo knelt over me. "Damn, you're pretty banged up."

I nodded. "I'll sit this one out for now." I slowly began healing myself.

Axl fired a Delta Bomber into each Mijinion, destroying them. X began charging the Twin Ivory, and Zero used the Douryuken. Unicrown was brought down to the ground. X sprouted horns on his helmet. "Rage Ivory!" He charged into Unicrown, who was just getting up. X shot the horns, dragging Unicrown into a tree. X then finished it off by charging at Unicrown enveloped in energy. "Nova Strike!"

Once again, the room began warping. Once finished, we were in Armor Armarge's mines. My leg had finally healed, so I stood up and changed to my male self. Almost immediately, the mines began crumbling. Needless to say, we began running away. We continued like that for a long time.

We eventually ran into a dead end. The path below us was filled. Luckily, the mines stopped collapsing. Zero called to the Bulbrite, "Is there any way out of here?"

There was a delay at the other end. "We can't find anything," Alia said with distress. "It looks like you're trapped." We sighed. As we did, the cave began rumbling again. This time, the ground below us sprouted up. Out of it came Crash Minotank with Ground Scaravich on his head. Scaravich then crawled onto Minotank's back. Minotank flexed his muscles. Scaravich's dung, I guess you would call it, formed over Minotank into armor.

I scowled in utter disgust. "Okay, these guys have completely lost it!" Minotank quickly rammed into me. I pushed him off me and kicked him in the face. X charged the Marsh Spear and raised his arms to Minotank. "Marsh Cage!" Two sets of green spikes appeared around Minotank. They closed together very quickly. When they opened back up, Minotank's dung armor had been destroyed. Dynamo slashed at the minotaur with a green aura slice. He was down on one knee. Axl fired lasers and a glop of goo from a camouflaged water gun type weapon. The Bog Burst. Zero used a Renyoushou at the same time. All hit at the same time. His head fell off his shoulders, and his body fell to the ground.

The walls warped again. When they stopped, they were the regular walls of Gate's Lab. The illusions ended. Axl fell to the floor. "Phew! Thank God that's over!"

Gate's laughter then echoed around the room. "Oh no, Axl. This is far from over." Gate teleported in front of us. "You have proved your worth mighty nicely. While you're used to fighting eight robots, you were able to fight and defeat sixteen instead. Bravissimo." He applauded us.

I wasn't taken. "You want an encore? Cause I'd be glad to whoop your ass right now!"

Gate snickered. Quickly his snickering turned into maniacal laughter. "So confident! Oh, you're too much, Satoryu!" He quickly sobered up and raised an arm to the sky. Mist began clinging to him in numbers we haven't even seen before. He was completely covered with it. The Mist then slowly seeped into his body. Once it had all done so, Gate's armor had turned gold. The Mist within him must've given him incredible power, because I was shaking at how much power he held. His face couldn't be more focused. "It's time. It's finally time for you to perish in Hell. The Mist shall see to that."

We quickly prepared for a big fight. Probably the biggest fight that we would ever be in. This fight may very well decide the fate of the world. Of course, this wasn't anything new for us. My face was just as stern as Gate's. "This has dragged on for far too long."

X quickly charged. "Gate or not, you will perish right here!"

Axl spread his wings and aimed both pistols at Gate. "And your boss is next!"

Zero pointed the Sigma Blade forward. "We've both died once, and one of us will die again. And it sure as hell ain't going to be me!"

Dynamo held his saber in front of him. "You may be powerful. But together, we can stop you no problem!"

Gate smirked for a split second. "The Mist is unstoppable. And I'll prove it to you."


	22. Critical Blow

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 22: Critical Blow**

Gate waved his arm. A long blade of red energy shot from the arc to our direction. We dodged it, but Gate teleported behind us and threw the blade again. I got nicked on my left arm. I glanced at it and let out a soft grunt.

"He's getting better," I thought. I threw a ball of light into Gate's face. He wasn't fazed in the slightest. His face was just as stern as when we began.

"Wait, why didn't that hurt him?" Axl asked perplexed.

X answered, scowling at Gate, "Gate is fighting just like he did in the past. The only thing that can hurt him is his own attack."

Gate held his hand out and created a green orb of energy. It shot in Zero's direction. Zero smirked.

"Come on, Gate. Learn some new tricks." He slashed the orb down the middle, creating six smaller orbs that shot back to Gate. "Gotcha!" Zero exclaimed confidently. For those not informed, this was the only way to damage Gate. Key word: was.

The shrapnel bounced off of Gate's body. He shook his head. "Have some faith in me for once. I would never pull the same stunt twice, Zero." Gate then teleported in front of Zero. He enveloped his fist in Mist and punched Zero in the stomach. Zero let out a gag and clutched his stomach.

"Zero, hold on!" Axl cried. "Something's gotta hurt this guy." Axl raised all of his wings and fired a barrage of lasers that exploded on contact with Gate. Typical DBZ fashion, I'd say. When the smoke cleared, Gate was again unharmed. He rushed to Axl with both hands out. Purple spheres shot from his palms into Axl's chest. Axl fell to the ground in an electric fit. Gate proceeded with firing yellow spheres en masse on the downed new-generation prototype. Axl let out a bloodcurdling scream until the blasts ceased.

X charged and fired a Tyrant Rave at Gate's left. Dynamo rushed to Gate's right with an ice-enveloped blade. As both attacks were to hit Gate, he held out both hands. The Tyrant Rave stopped moving. Dynamo struggled to finish his downward slice, gritting his teeth. Gate drew his arms back, then stretched them out again with a purple wave. The Tyrant Rave enveloped X in flames. Dynamo had become a popsicle. Gate then made a large red orb over his head. It magnetically drew Dynamo and X into it. I tackled Gate, stopping the attack. Dynamo was freed of his frozen prison. X was no longer ablaze. Both were pretty scuffed up.

I threw fists at Gate at mach speeds, none of them connecting. Gate easily strafed out of the way each time. I kicked upwards off his chest, then came down with Kaiser out. I was stopped in mid air.

"I'm disappointed, Satoryu," Gate shook his head slightly. "Why are you not taking this seriously? You could be using your full strength."

"I don't have to," I answered back with spite. "Not on something like you."

"Well, why not? Do you not want to be a glory hog?"

"Sort of," I began to soften up. "It's because I can't be a glory hog."

"Is your pride that strong?"

"It's not a matter of pride. If I were to vanquish a large threat that the world's native residents can defeat themselves, I would be abusing my power. Then I would lose my powers." I lowered my head. "And my life."

Gate looked up to me. His face was completely blank of emotion. "How sad for you." His white cape grew ten times in size. Each fold became a white blade enveloped in Mist. Those blades thrust their way into my body at various angles. Blood sprayed from each incision, as well as my mouth. The Hunters called my name in anguish.

"Your choice, Satoryu," Gate said, still blank. "Die now or die later." The blades retracted. My body, my clothes, my jaw were all drenched in blood. Gate then threw me into a wall psychokinetically. I slid down until I was propped up in a corner. My vision got blurry. My consciousness was fading. I could hear everyone else grunting, blasts being fired, swords slashing the air. But I couldn't find the strength to look. My head just lay limp. All I could see was a blurry image of my lap, crimson splotched over denim.

This wasn't good. I couldn't heal myself at all. I couldn't do much of anything but think. My power was fading quicker and quicker. The Mist must have finally done it. It must have reached my heart. My soul. My loved ones. The source of my power. I was completely cut off. If my body was able to, it would probably produce a tear from my eye. "Things aren't looking so hot, guys. Looks like I won't be coming home."


	23. Why the Long Face?

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 23: Why the Long Face?**

To think. A holy warrior like myself befallen by a minor threat. It sucks. It just sucks. All I could see was black and a small glimmer of white far in the distance. If I still had my sense of humor, I'd cry pathetically, "No Billy! Don't go to the light!" But naturally, I didn't have it in me. The light became so tempting, so I began reaching for it. Then a voice stopped me.

"Why the long face, huh?"

It was a familiar voice. One I knew oh so well. A beautiful voice. An image appeared before the light. As it got closer, it changed from a black silhouette to a human figure. A slim female body, features average yet perfect at the same time. Deep red hair flowing just above the shoulder, long bangs laying over the right side of her face covering one of her glorious green eyes. It was my wife.

"Don't tell me you're going to give up, Chris? This is a cakewalk of a fight."

"Misty?" I asked weakly. Her actual name is Michiru, but Misty is a bit of a pet name. Not to mention a small resemblance to a certain Cerulean City gym leader. "H...how? The Mist, it...it got to my..."

"It only got your head, Chris. It's only making you think your soul has been contaminated. I've been trying to tell you this for hours now."

"So, it's just in my head? I'm okay?"

"Well, you're pretty messed up now," she giggled. "But it's nothing a simple healing spell can't fix."

I sounded more confident. "You're right. I just can't let it get to me. By the way, how's Tina?" Tina is our daughter. She's the spitting image of her mother, except for her short blonde hair.

"She's just fine," Misty smiled. "The whole time, even when my hope began slipping, she kept on saying, 'Don't worry, Mom. He can't lose. No matter what.'"

I laughed a little. "That's my girl. Well, how about Yoshi?" My pet Yoshi with a very appropriate name.

"Of course he's okay. It's rare to see a sad Yoshi."

"And Sirco?" Sirco is an old friend of mine. I met him while slaying some demons in the early days of my "career."

"He's fine too. Now no more chat chit. Go fix yourself up."

I smiled. "Thanks a million Misty. See you at home."

"Sure thing, Chris. We'll be waiting." Misty blew me a kiss. As she did, my vision came back. That bloodstained lap of mine was the first thing I saw. I lifted my head and looked at my right arm. There were a couple of nice deep gashes covering it.

"Oh boy, I got a lot of work to do," I said to no one. I surrounded myself in a green aura. My wounds, slowly but surely, were closing up. My strength was returning piece by piece. Soon, in a few minutes or so, I'd be able to help the Hunters.

The thing with that, though, was that there wouldn't be too much I could do without going overboard. After looking up and seeing Gate easily battering the four of them around, it was looking like I would have to go full force on Gate after all.


	24. Deus Ex Machina

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 24: Deus Ex Machina**

As I healed myself, the Hunters were being manhandled by a void of emotion Gate. Whether it was Gate's signature energy balls, the red blade, or transforming his cape into swords, X and company were not faring too well. I gritted my teeth in half anger and half concern. Gate's attacks weren't the problem. They were all easily avoidable. The Mist was the real problem. It must have found its way deep into their systems, sapping all their strength.

In time, the Hunters couldn't even stand up. They were on their knees grunting and coughing. Gate was still blank. He had stopped his assault and floated over to Axl. Axl was on his stomach, wings damaged. Gate picked him up by the neck. Axl softly choked trying to raise his arm.

"The New-Generation prototype," Gate began. "The new breed of Reploid. Those who can become Mavericks by their own choice. Whose power rivals that of Sigma. And your level of power isn't even in the same ball park. Even with Lumine's abilities, you don't stand a chance. Maybe if you went Maverick, you could defeat me. But you would never dare do that, would you?"

Gate dropped Axl back onto the ground and walked over to Zero. His armor was nearly coming off, his green headlights smashed. Gate stomped on Zero's back, forcing him onto his face.

"You could probably beat me if you were still a Maverick. You were the original. The very first Maverick. 'The one who destroys Reploids.'"

Zero growled, "Don't you dare call me that you son of a bitch!"

Gate turned his head slightly. "Still have the energy to talk back, eh? All that Maverick strength must still be in you somewhere. Could you someday unleash it on the world again? Could you be stopped?"

X's helmet was ready to crumble away. "You're sick, Gate! Playing mind games with us when we're down. You're worse than a Maverick. You're insane!"

Gate kicked X onto his back. "Is it truly insane just to follow my master's orders? I'm a robot. That's what we were designed to do: obey. So don't get uppity with me X. Talk to the true mastermind. If you live to see him that is."

"We will. Once you're gone, we'll find your master and defeat him too!"

"Wanna bet? I'm sure Zero and Axl have some interesting things buzzing in their minds. What if they do decide to go Maverick? You would have to stop them. But could you find it in you to kill your comrades? Your friends?"

"You're a sick man, Gate! They'll never become Mavericks! Never!"

Gate kicked X in the chin. X skid a few feet across the floor, eyes white. Gate then turned to Dynamo. Dynamo's armor was completely smashed. His helmet was missing a half. A leg and an arm were gone. Gate grabbed Dynamo's face and lifted him up. Dynamo dangled lifelessly.

"You're the most pathetic of the bunch. You don't care about the fate of the world. You don't care who lives and who dies. You only care about your pay. Sounds like something a bad guy would be like, right? Then why are you siding with these good guys? To save your own behind, that's why. You believed that they would win, so you stuck with them so that you'd survive."

Mist engulfed Gate's arm and quickly spread to Dynamo's face. "I don't like any one of you. But I dislike you the most right now. You'll be the first to die."

A beam of green light came from the side of the room and pierced Gate's arm. He cried in pain as he dropped Dynamo onto the ground. He looked to see where the blast came from, as did I.

"What was that!?" we both shouted. The blast had come from a pink buster. "Alia!?" She began walking forward.

"I've seen enough. And I have the tool that can defeat you, Gate." She then blasted the green beam at each Hunter and me. All of us except Dynamo rose to our feet.

"Wow, I feel like a million bucks!" Axl smiled as he spread his wings.

Zero twisted his wrists. "Yeah, thanks a million."

X held his forehead. "Ditto. But how?"

"We at the base were able to reverse engineer the Mist and create an antivirus," Alia answered. "The Mist is in fact a series of nanomachines with the Nightmare integrated into their systems. So we made nanomachines that hunt down and destroy the Mist nanomachines. They also act as an immunization. You'll never be affected by the Mist again."

We all smiled and looked to each other. We jumped onto Alia and hugged her. "You're a lifesaver!" "We owe you big time!"

She blushed. "Oh, come on! It wasn't just me! Thank everyone at the base!"

A loud thud broke up our Kodak moment. Gate's forearm had fallen off. "Whoop-de-doo, Alia. You all made a counter to the Mist. Congratulations. But just because you can't be infected doesn't mean I can't still use it. I can still crush you all with brute force."

We let go of Alia. She stared Gate in the eye. "Then do it." The Hunters were a little confused, but I understood perfectly. She wanted to see if Gate could do it. Rather, she wanted to see if Gate's soul was still in there somewhere, buried by the Mist that was in control of his body.

Gate used the Mist to reconstruct his forearm. "Fine then, Alia! I'll gladly send you to hell!" He rocketed forward with fist out, aiming for Alia's face. The Hunters drew their weapons, but I held them back.

"Just watch. She knows what she's doing."

As Gate's fist was inches away from Alia's face, he froze in air. His eyes widened. "What in the?" He tried to thrust forward, but he remained suspended in air. "Why can't I..." he struggled.

Alia smiled. "Gate would never try to hurt me. He's still in there. He won't let you touch me."

Gate drew back and clutched his head. "No! You're lying! I am Gate! I am Gate!!!" He lowered his head. Mist gathered around him. "I am Gate! I'll prove it to you by destroying you all! I was only using twenty percent of the Mist before. Let's see what you think of me when I use all of the Mist in the world!"

Gate laughed maniacally as Mist continued to gather. Suddenly, the Mist stopped. Gate looked around. "What is this? Come to me, damn you!"

A voice bellowed from the distance. "You've done enough, Gate. Stop this nonsense now."

Gate looked scared. "B...but master."

We were all surprised. "Master!?"


	25. ENS

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 25: ENS**

A Reploid figure slowly descended to our location. It wore a lab coat similar to Gate's. When it touched ground, its face was in full view. A face with pure red eyes and an elongated mustache. The Hunters and I were in shock.

Gate fell to his knees. "Master Isoc, why? I was just preparing to kill them," he stammered in fear.

"You have had more than enough time to finish your task," Isoc thundered. "This job could have been finished days ago. But you decided to toy with the Maverick Hunters. You are a disgrace to my creations."

"Please, Master Isoc," Gate bowed, "Give me five more minutes. I promise I can destroy them."

Axl scratched his head. "I'm confused. Wasn't Isoc originally one of Gate's followers?"

Alia answered, "He was. But remember that that isn't Gate. It's just Mist."

Isoc thundered again. "I entrusted you with control over your ENS brothers. I gave you a task to perform, and you could not accomplish it. You have expended your usefulness!" With that, Mist began quickly seeping out of Gate's body. He screamed violently.

All the Mist, or ENS as Isoc put it, collected in a cloud above him. Gate's body limped backwards, again offline. Isoc looked to Alia, his voice much calmer. "Do with the body as you wish. I would prefer no distractions right now."

Alia nodded. She ran to Gate's body and clutched his head. "It's alright now," she whispered. "No one will use you again. I promise." With that, she teleported back to HQ, Gate in tow.

Isoc then looked to me. "You might want to take care of that one as well." He pointed to Dynamo, still not moving. Why he told me was simple. Isoc knew I would also be a distraction. This was to be between him and the Maverick Hunters. X specifically, if my hunch was right.

"Sure thing," I nodded. I picked up Dynamo and prepared to warp out when Axl shouted at me.

"What's the matter with you? You're just going to leave us high and dry? You're going to make us fight him by ourselves? You got some nerve!"

I let out an aggravated sigh. "I'd be in the way. Besides, you can take him." I warped back to base. Lifesaver stood ready with a stretcher. I placed Dynamo's body on it, then looked to Lifesaver. "Clean him up good."

He nodded, "Of course." He then carted Dynamo into ER. I turned to Layer and Pallette. "What's Alia doing?"

Layer responded, "I'm not sure, but I'd imagine it involves Gate."

Pallette butted in. "Are you sure you shouldn't help them?" I calmly nodded and sat at Alia's desk. From then on, I was going to stay on the sidelines; be an observer.

The Hunters readied their weapons. "How are you alive, Isoc?" X cried. "We saw your soul leave your body."

"Well," Isoc replied calmly, "my soul came back. It is as simple as that. Actually, my soul returned not too long after it left. That gave me plenty of time to finalize my plan."

Zero inquiried, "Finalize? You mean you've been planning this for some time now?"

Isoc smiled slightly. "Yes, Zero. Those few years ago, I was actually preparing to do in Gate myself and take Sigma under my control. Of course, I cannot do that now, so I decided to perfect Gate's original plan. What you have been calling the Mist is, as that woman Reploid said, a series of nanomachines infused with the Nightmare. It causes all of the same effects on Reploids, and now it does the same to humans as well, as evidenced by that outsider. The ENS: Eden Nanomachine Swarm."

Axl raised an eyebrow. "Eden? You mean like 'Adam and Eve' Eden?"

Isoc nodded again. "Precisely. By eradicating the world's population, human or not, this creation of mine shall turn the world into a real life Garden of Eden!"

The Hunters gasped, as did we at base. "You plan to kill the entire Earth's population?" X screamed. "That's insane!"

Zero growled. "So you want to start over from scratch, don't you?"

Isoc chuckled. "My Zero, you catch on quick. Yes, I shall eliminate all those on Earth. Afterwards, the ENS will recreate life itself. Also, it shall govern the new denizens of Earth. The planet will finally be the utopia it is meant to be!"

X shook his Buster in rage. "No! I can't let you do that!"

Axl and Zero prepared for battle. "That's right!" "We'll never let you do something so ludicrous!"

The ground began to shake. "I expected you to say that," Isoc said. Suddenly, the area of Gate's lab rose to the sky in a flash, crashing up through gravel and concrete to do so. The Hunters and Isoc were preparing to fight a mile or so above ground on top of a large pillar of rock and metal.

Isoc crossed his arms over his chest. "I did not think you would agree with my plan." A massive amount of ENS rapidly collected around him. It began forming a sort of solid shape. "Let me prove to you that my plan shall work." The ENS formed into two large arms at Isoc's sides, his arms still crossed over his chest. His eyes widened with power. "Can you not tell what has happened to this world? It is corrupt with war, bloodshed, famine, and so much more. But I have the tools that can stop it all. Why do you detest this? Isn't this what you wanted all along, Mega Man X?"

X looked down. "Yes. I'd love nothing more than to see a world of peace and tranquility." He looked back to Isoc, cross. "But if it means killing so many innocent lives to do so, I want no part of it!"

"Neither do I!" Axl said. "There's no reason to commit genocide!"

Zero pointed the Z-Saber at Isoc. "I've seen enough death in my life. And I refuse to see any more!"

"To think," Isoc solemnly said, "I would have let you live, Zero. But alas, you must be wiped clean from the planet as well. Trust me, this hurts me as much as it hurts you." The right arm formed a fist and thrust towards the Hunters. Easily dodged. X fired three charge shots in succession to Isoc's face. He was not fazed. In return, Isoc swiped X to the other side of the arena.

Despite his wings were smashed, Axl fired lasers rapidly at the ENS arms. Again, no damage. The left hand opened and fired ENS in beam fashion. Axl jumped over it and landed in front of Isoc. He pointed the barrel of his pistol at Isoc's forehead. He pulled the trigger. Even at point blank, Isoc was not affected by the blast. The arms rose to the sky, hands clutched, then rocketed down with quaking force. Axl was blown away by the shockwave.

Zero leapt high into the air with Z-Saber above him. As he came down, so did the saber. When he was inches away from slicing Isoc in two, Isoc held out one of his arms as if to stop Zero. With the velocity Zero fell, his chest was impaled by Isoc's arm. Zero coughed up blood. Isoc smiled wide. "Yes. Yes! You are now mine once again Zero!"

Isoc's arm glowed white, his smile growing. Zero's eyes rolled back. Layer and Pallette were confused. "What's going on?" "What is he doing to Zero?"

As I prepared to answer, Alia walked in. "He's stealing Zero's soul," she said with a hint of anger. The other navigators stood up in unison with a "WHAT?!"

"She's right," Signas said with head down. "Isoc is taking Zero's soul and adding it to his own. His power is going to skyrocket."

Pallette covered her mouth in shock. "Oh my God!"

Layer was frozen in shock. "No. Zero..." She began sobbing.

Alia went to comfort her. "Don't worry. X and Axl will get him back. I know they will." I did as well, and I knew that they'd defeat Isoc somehow. But this move was so unexpected. X and Axl will have a much harder time than I thought. Isoc was one hell of an evil genius. That further fueled my hunch.


	26. Never Admit Defeat

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 26: Never Admit Defeat**

The arm at Isoc's side changed from deep purple to Zero's cherry red. Its fingers sprouted green translucent claws akin to the Z-Saber. Layer suddenly stopped sobbing and fell out of her seat. Alia quickly caught her and Pallette rushed over to them. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah," Alia said, "she just fainted." She then slowly laid Layer down on the ground. "That shock was way too much for her. Let's let her rest." Pallette silently agreed and returned to her post. Alia continued to kneel at Layer's side, fanning her hand to cool her down.

X and Axl's eyes widened in fear as Zero's body fell to the ground. "Zero!!!" X shouted as he ran to it. He picked the body up by the shoulders and shook it. "Zero! Zero!!!" He suddenly dropped his best friends' body and turned to Isoc. His face was immensely cross. "You will pay!!!" X leapt to the air in preparation of a Nova Strike.

"Wait X!" Axl cried with hand out. "Don't be so reckless! There's no telling what this guy will do!" Ignoring Axl's warning, the Nova Strike rocketed to Isoc, X shouting at the top of his lungs. The Zero arm rose with hand open as to catch X. X hit the palm, continuing to flare with energy, as if trying to push through it. The hand thrust forward, knocking X out of the Nova Strike. The Z-Saber claws extended and slashed at X's airborne body. X screamed in pain as he was sent flying to the opposite edge of the arena.

Axl looked at his superior, wincing at the various cuts across his metallic body. "I didn't want to have to do this," he thought aloud. "Guess I don't have a choice now," he boomed to Isoc as his body began to glow orange.

Pallette was confused. "He's going to transform? But into what?" No one answered her question, as no one knew what to expect.

"Transform!" Axl called as his form began to change shape. His wings disappeared and his body grew longer. The form slowly began to look familiar, as his body became a floating mass of black metal shards, his head grew long horns, and a large blade appeared in his hand.

"Is he?" I started. "When did he acquire HIS DNA?"

Axl had transformed into Sigma. Specifically, the Belial form Sigma took when he was defeated last. In Sigma's gruff villainous voice he shouted to Isoc, "Time to show just what a New Generation Reploid can really do!" He dashed to Isoc and swung his Sigma Blade. The left arm blocked the blade, then thrust to knock Axl down. Axl held the blade out as it connected with the arm. Neither force budged more than an inch. After a short standoff, Axl disappeared and reappeared high above Isoc, much like Sigma used to. He quickly began his descent, blade ready. "Burn in hell!"

I got out of my seat. "No you idiot! He'll take you too!" Signas and the Navigators shouted "What!?" I hastily explained. "It's the same thing Zero tried, and we all saw how well that worked."

As Axl was about to slice Isoc's head in two, Isoc held out his left arm, stabbing Axl in the stomach. Isoc grinned maliciously. "I don't know how you acquired Sigma's DNA, but it sure makes things interesting." Axl choked as Isoc continued. "Zero's power is more than enough to defeat Mega Man X. But combine that with the power of Sigma!" Isoc laughed maniacally as he started absorbing Axl's soul. "I will be invincible!"

X woke up to see this vicious sight. His eyes widened again. "What in the name of God is..." he gawked. After realizing whose soul Isoc was absorbing, he said in disbelief, "Axl?"

The arm at Isoc's left side began changing as the right did. Instead of a Zero motif, this arm became the metal shards that were Sigma's body. Isoc continued laughing. "Oh ho ho! This power is unbelievable! To think a prototype could produce this!"

X shook his fist and slammed it on the ground. "You fiend! Using my comrades, my friends to further your strength! Now you've gone way too far!"

Isoc stopped laughing. "Why don't you understand yet? This is merely using the devil's tools to do the Lord's work, Mega Man X! And now all that stands in the path of a new perfect world is you. I hope you realize that victory is impossible."

"No," X grumbled as he stood up. "As long as I have to will to fight, I'll never admit defeat! I'll stop you and get Zero and Axl back!"

Both huge arms punched at X's sides, trapping him. He coughed up spit. The arms brought X closer to Isoc. "Never knowing when to give up," Isoc grunted. "Trying to achieve a Hippocratic goal. Fight to bring about peace. Your sense of justice has blinded you!" The fists crushed X even more. X cried in agony.

"Admit defeat! You can no longer achieve your ridiculous goal! Perish, and let the world begin anew!" The fists tossed X into the air slightly and drew away. As X descended, the fists enveloped themselves in ENS and punched at X again. This time however, the result was a blinding explosion. X's eyes whited out, his helmet now smashed off his head, revealing his unkempt brown hair, his arms bent the wrong way.

The fists drew away again, letting X fall limply to the ground. All of us at Base gasped in utter shock. "No! X!!!" Pallette and Alia cried.

Signas smashed his hand on his desk hard. "Damn!" He sighed with frustration and lowered his head. "It's all over."

My face was in a trance staring at the monitor. "Is it?" I thought. "Is it really over? If only I could help." My eyes widened. "Should I? Should I interfere?"

"Don't think like that!" a voice called in my head. It was Misty's. "I know what you're getting at. Sacrifice yourself to save millions. It's noble, Chris, but don't count your chickens."

"Are you serious?" I shouted in my head. "I'm the only one left who can stop this! I'm going to..."

"No Chris! Don't play the hero! You're forgetting who's out there. Mega Man X. Limitless potential. He's not out for the count yet. X has made a miracle or two happen in the past."

I lifted my head. "Yeah, I see what you mean. X can do this." Aloud, "He can do this. X isn't dead yet." The three looked at me in utter confusion. I couldn't believe I hadn't realized this before. I owe Misty big time. "X has more power than any of us could imagine. And he has a trump card he's yet to play."


	27. Without Limit

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Chapter 27: Without Limit**

X lied virtually unconscious on his stomach. His head was turned to the side, eyes blank and mouth agape. It was scary to say the least. We were all drawn to various screens displaying this site. The sound of doors opening broke our trance. It was Douglas. "I can't take it being stuck in the lab. How are they doing?" He then saw the big screen. He ughed in worry. "Not good, huh?"

"Nope," I answered him. "Come on, X," I muttered to myself. "Wake up."

Isoc was chuckling. He looked down upon X. "I know you're not done yet, Mega Man X. Whatever happened to that limitless power you are supposed to have? Did that fool Light make that up?" He turned and looked down to the rubble of New York. "Hmm. I wonder if a fall from here would be enough to smash you beyond repair?" he inquired.

Douglas thought aloud, "I sure hope not."

Alia was typing rapidly. When finished, she urgently responded, "At that height, with that velocity, that's just wishful thinking."

Isoc picked X's body up with both large hands. As he raised him over his head, he shouted, "Better yet, what would happen if I THREW him!!!?"

We all stood up again. "NO!" we cried.

Even if Isoc could have heard our plea, it would not have stopped him. He chucked X off the large pillar, sending him rocketing to the rotting city below. Isoc raised the right hand. "And just for good measure..." He thrust the hand down with Z-Saber claws pointed. The claws shot off the hand, following X on the trip down. Isoc cackled vigorously. "FAREWELL, MEGA MAN X!!!"

My eyes were wider than they have ever been before, as were everyone else's. Signas looked down and closed his eyes shortly after. He sighed heavily. Pallette held her hands over her mouth, exhaling with fear. Douglas gawked at the screen. Alia was crying heavily, her lip quivering. She held her hand out to the screen before her and shouted, "X!!!!!!"

Throughout the fall, the camera Bulbrite stayed focused on X's face. Still blank, not realizing how close death was approaching. The cracked concrete grew closer incredibly quickly. Misty had reminded me that X has made miracles before, and we all prayed that he'd make another one.

When the ground was a foot away from X's helmetless head, his eyes regained their features. We gasped yet again. As soon as we did so, X flipped himself over and landed on his feet in a blink. The force of the landing created a generously sized crater below him.

Pallette's face lit up. "X! He did it! He's alive!" Signas quickly shushed her. She nodded quickly and resumed concentration on the events unfolding.

Alia drew her hand back and covered her mouth. "X..." she sobbed.

The jewel in the center of X's Ultimate Armor shone brightly. The deep purple of the armor quickly changed to golden. Aura muck like the Nova Strike surrounded X, causing his brown hair to flare upwards. He looked up to the top of the pillar, as if staring Isoc down. His face was motionless and unwavering. He looked back down and jumped in the air slightly. In a split second, he used the Nova Strike to plow through the base of the pillar. It began rumbling, debris falling like rain. It quickly began to fall to the ground. On the other side, X stood still, as if he was waiting.

The pillar imploded to the ground with a storm of dust and a loud boom. When the dust cleared, Isoc was floating a couple feet in the air, Zero and Axl's bodies on either side of him. His face was paralyzed with fear. "H...How? How did he survive?" He paused shortly. With more shock, "What is this power? Is this...Is this X's infinite power!?"

X slowly turned around to face Isoc. After meeting Isoc's terrified eyes with his own, X began cupping his hands behind him, light pouring between them at an immense rate. The light and his hands shone so bright, the fog and dirt clouding the sky cleared, revealing the moon and stars.

With as little movement as possible, I managed to force out, "Oh my God."

X thrust his hands forward with great force. From them shot an incredible ball of fiery light with a diameter twice as tall as X. The Hadoken forced its way over the ground to a terror stricken Isoc. Isoc quickly held the large hands out to force the Hadoken away. It proved useless, as the Hadoken exploded on contact. The arms were vaporized by the light. A shockwave emitted from the explosion forced Isoc back several feet onto his rear end.

Two small lights remained once the arms were completely gone. Those two lights floated to Zero and Axl and entered their chests. The two hunters' eyes slowly opened. They tried to get up, groaning in the process. They glanced first to Isoc, shaking with terror. They then glanced to X and were awestricken.

"X..." "How did he...?"

Signas was in pure awe. "I've never seen an attack that powerful before. X is far stronger than I ever imagined."

Alia put her hand over her heart. "X..."

Pallette ran over to Layer, still on the ground. "Wake up! Wake up Layer! They're back! X brought Axl and Zero back!"

Layer strained to move. "Zero...?" she whispered.

Lifesaver walked in, slumping slightly. "Perfect timing," Douglas said to him. "How is he?"

"Dynamo's repairs are done," Lifesaver panted. "He just needs to rest." He caught glimpse of X. "Oh my... I did miss a lot."

X's left hand was still shining brightly. His eyes were still focused on Isoc. He raised it behind him and prepared to pounce. Isoc was crawling backwards. "Wh...what are you...what are you going to..." he stammered.

X screamed and leapt forward incredibly quickly. Isoc screamed in fear as X drew closer. Once in reach, X thrust his hand forward and grabbed Isoc's face, much like he had done to inflict the scars on Sigma's face. X growled and squeezed Isoc's face like a sponge. Isoc cried in pain and tried to wiggle out of the death grip, limbs flailing. X shouted at the top of his lungs. His aura and the light in his hand both glowed brighter than ever. X's hand closed into a fist, crushing Isoc's head, parts flying every which way, ENS pouring out like blood.

It seemed like time froze at that point. No one moved nor made a sound for a few seconds. It was incredibly surreal.

Isoc's headless body slumped to the ground, electricity and smoke emitting from his open neck. X on the other hand stayed in the very same position. His aura fell, light no longer shined, the gold fading back to purple. His face morphed from angry to blank.

Zero and Axl looked at their comrade in disbelief. "My God," Zero said.

"He did it," Axl said. "He did it."

Douglas and Pallette cheered and jumped in the air. "YAHOO!!!" They then danced around Lifesaver, who laughed with relief and a hint of confusion.

Signas smiled and chuckled. "You'll never cease to amaze me, X."

Layer had sat up and looked at the screen. "They're alive," she whispered in shock. "They're alive!" she repeated louder. "They're really alive!" She got up and hugged Alia.

Alia was crying and laughing at the same time. "They sure did."

I smiled with all teeth showing, something I don't usually do. I chuckled a little bit. "Way to go guys."

Misty's voice rang in my head. "See? What'd I tell ya?"

I laughed hard. "Like I ever doubted you!" My joyous mood suddenly ceased when I saw Isoc's body beginning to explode. I called into the microphone, "Zero! Axl! Get X out of there! Quick!"

They both shook out of their trance and nodded. They grabbed hold of X. I pushed the button that would warp them back home. And just in time, because the force of Isoc's explosion destroyed the entire block, sending rubble and fallen buildings to what was Gate's lab. The signal cut off before I saw any more.


	28. How It Should Be

**Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma**

**Final Chapter: How It Should Be**

The three hunters beamed into base, Zero carrying X over his shoulder. Zero laid X on the ground. Lifesaver, Douglas, and I crowded around. The navigators ran to us cheering. Pallette hugged Axl and Zero. "Way to go guys! You did it!"

Axl grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Aw, shucks. Don't cheer for us! X deserves all the credit here!"

"How is X?" Signas called to Lifesaver, who was checking his condition.

"He's okay. His systems just overheated. He'll come back online when he cools down."

"Good to hear," I said. I then turned to Axl. "Axl. When did you copy Sigma's DNA?"

Axl looked at me as if I was stupid. "Uh, duh? I copied him after we killed him. I knew that the power would come in handy in a real pinch. I just never told anyone I did it."

"You probably should have," Signas suggested. "We should examine it sometime in the near future." Louder, to everyone, "It pleases me to know that the planet and all life on it have been saved once again. Everyone here has pitched in to help. But, as Axl said, the one we owe the most is X. Without his incredible power, there's no telling what our fate would have been. In honor of him, I am relieving you all of your duties for the night. You earned it. I'd suggest a party to thank him for all he's done for us."

Axl, Pallette, and Douglas all cheered "PARTY!!!" as Signas finished his sentence. They hopped into R&D singing "Party, party, party!"

Lifesaver laughed and followed suit. "Oh, to be so full of life."

Alia asked Signas as he began walking out, "Wait, Commander. What about the paperwork we have to do?"

Signas smiled. "Don't you worry about it. I'll take care of it."

Alia smiled back. "Okay. Thank you, Commander." She ran to R&D, and Signas retreated to his quarters.

Zero began walking to the party location, but Layer stopped him. "Umm, Zero," she started nervously, "you're hair is... it's gotten messy." She bit the tip of her finger gently. "Do you... do you think I can brush it for you?"

Zero turned to her and smiled. "Yeah. I'd like that. Thanks."

Layer blushed. "Um, um, um," she stuttered, "I'll go see what everyone's up to." She ran to R&D.

Zero started to follow her, but turned to me. "You know, I'm not blind. I know she likes me. But I'm not going to sadden her by talking about Iris. It's kinda fun playing the role of the guy who doesn't have a clue."

I chuckled. "I guess so."

Zero continued, "Well, they're probably setting everything up right now. You coming?"

"Not yet. I'm gonna watch X for a while."

"Okay. Don't be long." With that, Zero joined the to-be festivities.

As I was watching X sleep, a hologram appeared opposite me. "I'm very proud of you, X," Dr. Light smiled. I was a little shocked to see him appear out of nowhere. But I didn't say anything right away. Light continued, "With every victory, my dream grows that much closer to being a reality. No matter the danger the world faces, I can count on you to be there and stop it, X. It makes me so happy."

I cut in, "If I can ask you a question, Doctor."

Dr. Light stopped me. "I already know what you are going to ask. 'Where did X get that much power?'"

I answered, "In a sense, yeah. I really want to know was it the Ultimate Armor that enabled him to do all that?"

Dr. Light closed his eyes. "Not at all. The only thing the complete Ultimate Armor did was enhance his power."

"Well that explains why X turned gold. But the Hadoken and the Shining Finger. He did those on his own?"

Light looked confused for a second. "Shining Finger? I've never heard that name before. Anyway, yes, X used those abilities of his own free will. Ever since I taught him to throw fireballs, he's been able to draw on the power of his near-human soul. Actually, that and the Shoryuuken use very little power compared to when he unconsciously faced Sigma. Now it seems he's learned to use such power on his own."

My eyes widened. "You didn't teach him to do that?"

"No, I didn't. It surprised me at first, but I soon realized that it is all part of X's programming. He's built to learn. It was only a matter of time before he learned to use his limitless potential to the fullest."

On the big screen, a red blip appeared on radar. Dr. Light and I turned to it quickly. It was emitting from Gate's Lab.

"Go check it out, Chris," Light told me. "I have a feeling I know what is causing that disturbance."

"I do too," I retorted. "Good bye, Doctor," I said as I teleported out.

"Thank you, Chris," I heard Dr. Light say as I left. "And good luck with your fight for peace."

I appeared underground where Gate's Lab was. The debris from the fight littered the place, dust everywhere. I called out, "Isoc. I know you're soul's still lingering around here. Come on out."

Isoc's voice echoed around the rubble. "What do you want, outsider? Are you here to finish the job?"

"No. I'm not the one to defeat you. This fight is between you and Light. Isn't it, Dr. Wily?"

A hologram appeared before me. It was of Dr. Wily. He looked shocked. "You... you know who I am?"

"Yep. The clues were really adding up. It was only a theory, but you just proved it. You were also Sagesse, weren't you?"

Wily's jaw dropped. "You even know about that? You're good! You've certainly done your homework!"

"That I have. It's another duty I have as Connector of Worlds. I have to know what's going on in all worlds, or what's already happened in this case, so that I know when to intervene and when to let fate play out on its own."

"So it is fate that I keep losing to Light's robots." Wily sighed heavily. "I was so sure that this plan would work. I had planned it for years. I went over all possibilities. With the Nightmare and Zero, I thought I was invincible. But I guess I overlooked one thing: Mega Man X's true power. I'm still in shock that he defeated me so effortlessly. Light wasn't lying about infinite power, was he?"

"No he wasn't. So," I began with curiosity, "what do you plan to do now?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Ever since I've turned my brain into an AI program, I have been thinking much more logically. My pride and hatred are not getting in the way nowadays. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm in doubt that I can win. Sad, isn't it? Well, even if I decide to try one more time, it won't be for a long while."

A shadowy voice with a slur echoed from above. "What are you saying, Master? Do not give in so easily!"

A figure appeared in the broken ceiling, his profile blocking the moonlight. It was the very same Grim Reaper that brought me here in the first place. It lowered its hood to reveal a familiar face. Wily was confused. "Snake Man? What in the world are you doing here?"

"Gate was gracious enough to rebuild me. But enough about me. You can't stop trying to kill Mega Man X, Doctor! Don't let this human tell you what to do!"

Wily closed his eyes. "Gate remade you, huh? Imitating my creations without permission is a sin. Such things should not exist." He then looked to me with a wily smile. "Would this be interfering with fate?"

"No it wouldn't," I said as I flew up to Snake Man and grabbed him by the throat. I looked into Snake Man's eyes with intent to kill. "It's you're fault that I ended up here. It's you're fault I almost had to interfere with destiny. I should not have been involved in this conflict at all!" I let go of Snake Man and flew up. I then quickly began my descent, feet first. My body impaled Snake Man in one smooth move. As I touched land, Snake Man exploded.

Wily applauded me. "Such finesse! You are a great fighter too!"

I waved it off. "Nah, that's nothing. Well, I should get going."

"I understand. It was..." Wily began, "nice talking to you. A pleasure even."

"The feeling's mutual."

"But before you go, can I get your name?"

I offered my hand to Wily. "It's Chris. Chris Walker."

"Albert Wily." He met his hand with mine, but because he's a hologram, they went through each other. A second later, we began laughing. I waved goodbye and teleported out. Wily was still smiling as I left.

I touched down outside Maverick Hunter Headquarters. As I approached the front door, Dynamo began walking out of it. We both stopped in surprise. "Didn't expect to see you here. How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"Never better," Dynamo replied. "That Lifesaver does a real good job."

"You know there's a party going on."

"Yeah. But it's time for me to look for work again. By the way," he held his hand out, "when will I get my money?"

I chuckled. "I'll write up the check and mail it to you later."

Dynamo looked cross. "You know, I prefer my money in cash." He paused, then smiled, "But I'll give an exception this time." We both laughed. Dynamo continued walking. "See you around."

I waved. "Later, Dynamo." I began making my way to the party.

I've witnessed some amazing things during my "career," but this was one of the biggest. While I was brought here against my will, it was nice to see the hunters once again. I hadn't been too active prior to the past few days, so this helped. There were tough times, sad times, but there were fun ones too. And I was sure that this party for X would be the most fun.

"You ain't inviting me?" Misty's voice rang in my head.

I grunted jokingly. "I didn't get to yet. Come on. All of you can come."

"We're already half way there."

"Oh. One thing I wanted to run by you. I saved this girl a day or two ago, and she seemed devoted to paying me back. I think she was really into me."

"We haven't seen you for days, Chris! You spend time with us first. Then you can flirt with this girl."


End file.
